Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you.”
― David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 135

There had once been a time when Annabeth believed that a mouthful of sand was the worst part of the sport. After all, falling on your face was hardly enjoyable and it was made all the worse by the grit that would linger between your teeth, sometimes for days after. The next worst thing was probably the almost-constant rash that she seemed to have on her knees, elbows, and occasionally a hip or shoulder. 

Beach courts were, in many ways, more forgiving than the indoor hardcourts. But that was sometimes difficult to remember when you had sand in virtually every crevice. 

“Again!” Coach’s voice echoed around the arena. “Shake it off, Chase— let’s go!”

Annabeth sighed, brushing off her elbows before she accepted the hand that was outstretched toward her. “Thanks,” she muttered. Piper shot her a grin as she hustled back into position. 

Piper had always been the more cheerful of their duo. She looked at these hours-long practice sessions like they were a treat, and maybe they were for her. Piper had been training like this her entire life, she didn’t know anything different. She’d had the best of the best by way of coaching and training since she was old enough to hold a volleyball, one of the many luxuries afforded her by her father’s fortune. 

“Come on, Chase,” Piper encouraged. “Two more rallies and we can call it.”

“I say when you’re done,” Coach Hedge called, grabbing another ball out of the cart. “Two more rallies.”

Annabeth couldn’t help but laugh as she and Piper readied themselves for the serve. Hedge hit the ball over the net with a steady hand and Annabeth met it easily, dropping to one knee to scoop the ball up for Piper to set. It all happened in an instant: Piper pressing delicate, deliberate fingertips to the ball as Annabeth rose from her knee. She took a single step back to make more space before taking three large strides forward, jumping easily to meet the ball in midair and spiking it down into the sand on the opposite side of the net. 

“Great job,” Hedge nodded, stopping the ball with his foot. He picked it up, tossing it back toward the ball cart. “Reset. McLean, this one’s yours. Watch your shoulder control this time.”

Piper groaned, rolling her shoulders and shaking out her neck as she muttered something under her breath. They got back into position for the next hit as Hedge pulled a new ball from the cart and sent it over the net. Piper’s hits were slower but more precise. Annabeth had the strength and speed to slam the ball down before any opponent could react, but Piper had always been better at targeting a predestined point. Hedge jumped to the side, stepping out of the way of the ball at the last moment. 

“Funny, McLean,” he chided. “Give me four laps before you leave. Chase, you’re done.”

Piper rolled her eyes, jogging back a few steps as she mouthed to Annabeth, Worth it.

Annabeth laughed, brushing the last of the sand off of her arms as she started toward the locker room. She took a quick shower, stretching her arms under the scalding hot stream of water. It was going to be an impossibly long night, she knew, and she was dreading it. 

She cut the water and wrapped a towel around herself, exiting the showers just as Piper walked into the locker room. “Your elevation looked good today,” Annabeth said, turning to open her locker. “Your shoulder still giving you trouble?”

“Not in a while,” Piper said, opening her locker and immediately pulling her sports bra over her head and tossing it inside. Annabeth caught a sliver of reflection in the mirror on the back wall of her locker — a flash of perfectly toned, deep chestnut skin — and pulled her eyes away quickly. 

She had long since decided that it was wise to keep Piper McLean at a safe distance. It was the professional thing to do, after all. They were teammates and relied on trust and communication on the court in order to be successful, and mixing any sort of already-confusing emotions into that was probably not a very good idea. 

That acknowledgement didn’t really do much to keep the hot blush from rising to her cheeks as she stepped into her underwear and fastened her own bra around her back. When she straightened, Piper’s reflection in the mirror had locked onto her gaze.

“How about you?” she asked, wrapping her towel around herself and reaching for her shower bag. “How’s your ankle?”

“Oh,” Annabeth shook her head, turning back to her duffel bag that was resting on the bench that ran between the two rows of lockers. It was nice of Piper to ask, probably, but the injury she was asking about was several weeks past being healed by now. “Please— it was just a little sprain.”

She dug through the bag, feeling around for denim and finally pulling out black pants. As she tugged them on, her phone lit up with a new message from Connor. It also gave her the chance to realize that it was already past 4:30 — which meant that practice had run longer than she’d realized, and she had less than thirty minutes to make it across town for her shift. Annabeth cursed under her breath as she fastened the button on her jeans and went back to fishing through the bag for her uniform shirt.

“Everything okay?” Piper asked as she slipped into her shower shoes. 

“Yeah, I just don’t want to be late,” she muttered, pulling the wrinkled, blue Medea’s Diner t-shirt out and slipping it over her head quickly. She was really, really hoping that her name tag was still in her car. 

“You have to work tonight?” Piper frowned, closing her locker. “I thought you got off at ten.”

“I did,” Annabeth explained, pulling her damp hair to one side of her head and letting nimble, practiced fingers weave a tight braid over her shoulder, “from the coffee shop. But my shift at the diner starts at five.”

“Damn,” she shook her head. “What time do you get off? You’re gonna be beat tomorrow.”

“Eleven, and no, I’m not,” Annabeth shook her head adamantly. “We’re going to do fine.”

“We better,” Piper laughed, walking toward the showers. “I’ll kick your ass if we don’t. See you bright and early, Chase.”

Annabeth waved as Piper disappeared around the corner. She hurried to pull on her shoes and threw her sweaty, sandy practice uniform into the bag before she slammed her locker and hustled out of the gym. 

Faded, two-toned paint made her Corolla stand out like a sore thumb among the sporty cars and SUVs that filled the lot of the Aegis Center. When she’d first started training at the facility nearly two years prior, the obvious disparity between herself and the rest of the members had made her feel more than a little insecure.

Often, she cursed herself for choosing to commit to a sport that was so financially demanding. The membership fee alone cost almost as much as her rent — and that was after her FIVB discount — but since the Aegis was the only facility within forty miles that had indoor sand courts (other than the gym she’d trained at in high school, which absolutely wasn’t an option), it was necessary. Then, of course, there were coaching fees, uniforms, travel expenses for competitions, tournament entry fees, and a thousand other costs that chipped away at Annabeth’s meager checking account every single week. 

Five days a week, she was up at four in the morning and was slinging coffee by five. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she worked until noon since she only had one class in the afternoon, and after class it was off to practice for three hours, before heading off to a late-night shift at the diner. If she was lucky, she’d get a solid four hours of sleep before the next day, though it was usually far less than that. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, she had late morning classes that cut her coffee shop shifts a bit shorter. Those days consisted of even more training in the afternoons, followed by her standard night shift at Medea’s.

The one consolation she allowed herself was that she rarely worked on the weekends unless there was a shift to pick-up at one of her jobs. Saturdays usually included morning Pilates with one of her roommates and an abbreviated afternoon session with Piper at the Aegis, but those days still felt like a vacation compared to the rest of the week.

It had been like that for the past two years, ever since she’d come back to volleyball on a competitive scale. It was hard to admit, in the beginning, that she’d gotten so out of shape in such a short amount of time, but in the year between walking out on Worlds and finally finding a new teammate, life had really worn on her. Connecting with Piper McLean had been the luckiest moment of her life.

Piper, who had been making her own comeback after a brutal shoulder injury, was exactly the push that Annabeth needed to be able to jump headfirst back into the rigorous training and disciplined schedule. For the last two years, they’d been growing together as a team and were still surprising crowds and opponents at nearly every tournament they entered. 

Still, Piper had been fortunate enough to have her parents’ guilt-driven financial support, which meant that she only had to focus on school and training. Her mother (a well-known fashion designer) and her father (a B-list actor with a more-than-respectable number of awards attached to his name) were more than happy to extend a seemingly endless line of credit to their only child in exchange for being able to neglect all of their parental duties. 

Annabeth, on the other hand, had not been so lucky. With her family being more or less estranged, she’d found herself in a similar parentless position, only without any of the benefits that had been bestowed upon Piper. She consistently worked as many hours as she could, knowing that at the end of the week, it would still only just be enough. 

And she wasn’t oblivious to the strain it put on her. Maybe it was spreading herself a bit thin to work as much as she did, but there really wasn’t another way. She and Piper only had three months to break into the top fifteen and secure their spot at the Athens games that summer and that meant that they had to train every minute that they could. 

And, unfortunately, that kind of constant training didn’t come cheap.

Annabeth all but sprinted to the ugly grey and silver car, jiggling her key in the door in the way that had been committed to muscle memory before collapsing into the driver’s seat. She tossed her duffel bag into the passenger floorboard and turned the key in the ignition, sending a prayer up to the heavens that the engine rolled over— and breathing a sigh of relief when it did. 

The drive from the Aegis to Medea’s took about twenty-five minutes on a normal day but she made it in twenty, peeling into the back lot with only a few minutes to spare. Her name tag was thankfully still in the cupholder and she wrapped her hand around it before she jumped out, pinning the tag on as she hurried across the parking lot. 

Medea was waiting behind the counter as Annabeth burst in through the back entrance and hurried through the kitchen. She had probably been very beautiful once, but time hadn’t been very kind to her and her choice in makeup these days wasn’t really doing her any favors. Her too-dark-to-be-natural black hair that she always stacked on top of her head was tied with a bright orange headscarf today— a look that would be out of place almost anywhere else, but fit right in with the classic diner aesthetic. Medea gave her a hard time, but she was usually nice and had always been more than understanding of Annabeth’s tumultuous, ever-changing, demanding schedule. That alone made her a winner in Annabeth’s book.

“You’re late,” she called in Annabeth’s direction the moment she appeared behind the counter.

“I’m two minutes early, actually,” she said, dropping her keys into the drawer beneath the register. “Somehow.” 

Medea gave her a strange look before gesturing toward her shirt. “Wrong name tag.”

Annabeth looked down. A white and blue piece of plastic was pinned to her chest with a tiny logo for the coffee shop in the corner. “Shit.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Medea shook her head. “Just take it off; you can be whoever you wanna be tonight. Just don’t go pissing people off.”

“You know that’s my favorite thing to do, Dee,” Annabeth laughed, unpinning the nametag and dropping it into the drawer alongside her keys. 

“You look tired, hon,” she said, leaning against the counter. “Practice kicking your ass?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Annabeth muttered, grabbing an order book and a pen. “Where do you need me?”

“Been pretty slow, ‘specially for a Friday— I sent Sinclaire home an hour early. Table six just needs their check,” she answered before pointing toward the booth in the corner, “and nine just sat down.”

“On it.”

Annabeth dropped the check off with the couple at table six before she continued toward a booth a few feet away and pulled out her order book. She looked up to see two guys that seemed to be about her age, both with damp hair. For one fleeting moment, she thought it was sort of strange— then she realized how hypocritical that would be seeing as the long blonde braid hanging over her shoulder was definitely not dry yet. For all she knew, they might have just come from the gym themselves.

“Sorry for your wait,” she apologized as she approached. They looked up as she spoke and she got a look at their faces for the first time. The one that was facing the back wall had dark, narrow eyes beneath a strong brow and wore a smile that made her feel like she’d just interrupted a funny story. The other guy had a similar smirk on his face, a dimple nestled into one cheek. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t believe that she wouldn’t remember eyes that startlingly green. 

“No problem,” the first guy responded. “We haven’t been waiting very long.”

“Good,” Annabeth smiled. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Water,” he answered before he looked at the other guy. “Percy wants water, too.”

“Shut up,” the guy who must be named Percy laughed. “He’s kidding— I’ll have a Coke.”

The first guy shook his head. “That stuff’s gonna rot your teeth.”

“When you’re paying my dental bills, you can have an opinion.”

Annabeth laughed and hurried back to the counter to retrieve the drinks. She stole more than a couple of glances as she readied the glasses, admiring the pair from her spot behind the drink dispenser. They were both attractive with handsome faces and kind eyes and she’d be lying if she said that she didn’t feel a little warmed by their smiles. 

The one that she’d learned was named Percy had deep olive skin, a tan that couldn’t come from the sun, that really set his bright eyes apart beneath that mop of wet, dark hair. The odd thing was how he seemed even more familiar now from this distance, and she wondered if maybe he’d been in the diner before. Regardless, she was fairly certain that she’d seen him somewhere.

As she walked back across the diner, Percy was talking emphatically with his hands, drawing a booming laugh from the other guy as she set the glasses on the table. She smiled as she straightened. “Did I miss the punchline?”

Percy grinned at her and that dimple popped out again. “Just reminding my buddy Frank here why I’m not allowed inside Crate & Barrel anymore.”

His smirk was infectious and Annabeth couldn’t help but laugh. “Sounds like a fun story.”

“Only the way he tells it,” the other guy, Frank, scoffed. “I was there and I assure you that it was not funny at the time.” 

“Yeah, well,” Percy grinned as he pulled his glass closer and plopped a straw into his soda, “you’re boring.”

Laughing as she pulled out her orderbook, Annabeth listened as the guys continued to bicker. When they seemed to reach an impasse, she looked up again. “Do you need a few minutes or are you ready to order?”

“See? Even Diner Girl thinks you’re boring,” Percy said, jerking a thumb in her direction. 

“Ignore him— we don’t let him out in public very often,” Frank sighed, glancing back at the menu for a couple of seconds before he looked at Annabeth. “I’ll have the Denver omelet— extra peppers, no cheese. And a side of bacon.”

“You got it,” she nodded, taking the menu from him and circling the symbol she always used to denote an ingredient change on her orders. Annabeth looked up at Percy. “And you?”

“Blueberry pancakes, extra blueberries,” he said, holding the menu out for her to take. He had an interesting sort of lilt to his words that she couldn’t quite place— like maybe he’d outgrown a thicker accent at some point in his life, but she couldn’t quite place it. “Thank you.”

“Alright,” she nodded. Annabeth took the menus, tucking them under her arm before she ripped the ticket from the book and took a step back. “Separate checks?”

“I’m buying,” Percy answered, holding up a hand to quiet Frank who had already begun to interject. “One check, please.”

Annabeth laughed at the sour look on Frank’s face. “I’ll have that ready in a few.”

“You don’t have to be a jerk to her; she’s just doing her job,” she heard Percy say quietly as she turned around. 

“I’m being a jerk?” Frank scoffed. Whatever he said next was lost beneath the general blur of diner noise. 

“Grover, make sure there’s no cheese on this omelet,” she called through the kitchen window as she tucked the ticket into the rack. His back was to her, his attention on the griddle he was currently cleaning, but he raised a thumbs-up in the air as confirmation and she turned back toward the dining room. 

“You know ’em?” Medea asked, setting the tray of clean silverware on the counter and nodded toward the booth where Frank and Percy were sitting. 

“No,” Annabeth shook her head. “Why do you ask?”

She shrugged as they both set to matching forks to knives and rolling them into napkins. “Looked like you were talking kinda friendly. Just figured you might’ve gone to school together.”

“Maybe,” Annabeth admitted, “but I’m not sure. I don’t think I’ve ever met either of them before.

“The one with those big, green eyes— he used to come here a lot with his mom,” Medea said, her fingers moving twice as fast as Annabeth’s as they exhibited their time-hewn skill. “She owns that little bakery on 7th Street, the one I order our pastries from. Real nice lady.”

“Ms. Jackson?” Annabeth asked, surprised. Mostly because she’d known Sally Jackson as an acquaintance through Medea for years and had never realized that she had any children. Besides, Sally barely looked old enough to have kids at all, much less an adult son. “Huh.”

“Don’t you go gettin’ any ideas,” Medea warned, shaking a handful of wrapped silverware in her direction. “Can’t have you messing up things with my suppliers.”

“Oh, stop it,” Annabeth sighed. They continued to roll the silverware and Annabeth was grateful that it was so slow that night. With any luck, she might even be able to sneak out a little early and actually get some decent sleep before the tournament tomorrow. 

After a while, Grover set two plates in the window. “Denver omelet, and a shortstack with extra blueberries.”

“Thanks, Grov,” she smiled, taking the plates carefully and giving the order a quick once-over. The omelet appeared to be sufficiently cheese-free and the pancakes had so many berries in them that they themselves were practically blue. 

Balancing both plates on one arm and a pitcher of water in her free hand, Annabeth made her way back to table nine. She set the pitcher on the empty table behind Frank before she deposited their food on the table. “Everything look good?”

“Damn,” Percy said, tilting his head. “Grover really went all in on the blueberries this time.” 

“You know Grov?” Annabeth asked. 

“Oh yeah, we’ve been friends since high school,” Percy nodded. His tone was light and warm, obvious fondness dripping into the words. He was already unwrapping his silverware and reaching for the blueberry syrup dispenser. “He knows exactly how I like my pancakes.”

“So when’s the wedding?”

Frank sputtered, clearly caught off guard by the boldness of Annabeth’s joke. It made her self-conscious for only a second, hoping she hadn’t just overstepped. 

“Oh, Diner Girl has jokes,” Percy smirked, bringing a forkful of dangerously blue pancakes to his mouth. 

Annabeth laughed, relieved that he seemed to have taken her joke for what it was: harmless. She retrieved the pitcher and refilled Frank’s glass before she glanced at Percy’s half-full glass of Coke. “You want me to top you off?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” he shook his head. “I think I read somewhere that this junk will rot your teeth if you’re not careful.” He shot her a quick wink while Frank groaned through his bite of bacon. 

“Let me know if you need anything else,” she nodded before she turned to walk back to the counter. 

As Annabeth continued helping Medea with the silverware, they chatted about practice and the tournament that was taking place in Los Angeles the following day. As strange as it was, Medea had become one of the few adults in her life that seemed to have any sort of interest in her sport, and that had always meant a lot to Annabeth — especially since her actual family had not been nearly as supportive.

When she’d made her decision to rejoin the FIVB and try to make her way back into national rankings, her father and step-mother had all but cut her off. They saw (had always seen) her interest in volleyball as a waste of time and money. He, albeit begrudgingly, still paid for both her car and health insurance, but that was the extent of his fatherly generosity. Beyond those small mercies, she was on her own. 

Her mother had long since vanished. When she was barely three, she and her father had returned home from a dentist appointment to find her mother’s car missing from the driveway and a note on the counter, and Annabeth hadn’t seen her since. The only evidence that her mother was even still alive was the birthday card containing $50 and a hastily scribbled ‘xo Mom’ that miraculously found its way to Annabeth every July 12th, no matter where she happened to be living at the time. She figured that meant that her mother and father still kept some kind of contact, though she’d never really cared enough to ask. If her mom was content with not knowing her daughter, that was fine by Annabeth— she’d done just fine without her.

Medea, on the other hand, seemed to have noticed the gap in her life almost instantly— and while ‘motherly’ and ‘maternal’ weren’t exactly words that Annabeth would use to describe the woman, she loved her and appreciated every ounce of effort that Medea put into making her feel valued and supported. 

“What’s Connor doing tonight?” Grover asked, resting his arms on the pass-through window. “He’s usually up here bugging you when he knows we’re slow.”

“He’s home with Travis and Chris,” she answered. “Tech finished midterms today, so they’re having some kind of a Smash Bros. tournament tonight in celebration.”

“Smash tourney?” Grover asked, raising his eyebrows. He put on a dramatically fake worried face as he glanced at their boss. “Medea, I need to leave early; something’s come up.”

“Sure,” she shrugged, picking up the tray of freshly wrapped silverware and turning away. “Just don’t expect your job to be waiting when you get back.”

“You’re no fun,” Grover called through the window as Medea disappeared behind the waitress station. He pulled the amused grin back onto his face as he looked at Annabeth. “Ready for tomorrow?”

“Nope,” she smiled, leaning back against the counter. “But we’re gonna kill anyway.”

“Good attitude,” he nodded. “I like that.” 

“Diner Girl!” 

Annabeth turned toward the sound, kind of hating the way she was answering to the moniker. Percy held a hand in the air. Judging by their plates, they seemed to be finished eating. She took the check from the register and made her way back to the booth. 

“Everything taste okay?” she asked as she set the bill in front of Percy. 

“Perfect,” he nodded, reaching into his pocket for his wallet and pulling out a card. He held it out to her. “Even if the company could’ve been better.”

Annabeth took the card from Percy before she looked back at Frank. “I think you should consider getting yourself a new friend. You shouldn’t have to tolerate this sort of abuse.”

“I agree,” Frank nodded, “but, unfortunately, we live together so it wouldn’t really make much of a difference.”

“Ouch,” Percy said, clutching his chest dramatically as he eyed Annabeth. Even as he tried to feign his offense, a smirk pulled at his lips and that dimple betrayed him again. “You don’t even know me.”

Annabeth laughed. “Don’t need to,” she shrugged before she took their plates and turned back toward the register. She set the plates in the window and cashed out their bill. When she turned away from the register, someone was sitting at the counter. 

“So, am I gonna have to keep calling you Diner Girl?”

Annabeth’s brow furrowed as she set the receipt and the card on the countertop in front of Percy. “What?”

“You got our names, right?” he asked. “And you’re not even wearing a name tag.”

“What makes you think I’m going to remember your names once you’re on the other side of that door?” she asked, crossing her arms. “It might be slow tonight, but we usually get a lot of people in here. I can’t possibly be expected to remember everyone.”

“You could try,” Percy shrugged, “starting with us.” 

There was a tiny, persistent part of her that actually did want to give this man her name, maybe even her number if he wanted it. But, realistically, that was stupid for a lot of reasons— mainly that she was too busy to even think about dating right now. Nevermind the fact that she wasn’t totally sure about the ethics of picking up guys at work, anyway.

“I think I’m good,” she said. 

“Man,” he shook his head after a few seconds of watching her face. He slid off of the barstool as he took the credit card and returned it to his wallet. 

She hadn’t noticed it before but with him standing in front of her now, she couldn’t help but notice how broad his shoulders seemed to be. He was taller than she’d expected, too— she was just shy of 5’10 herself, so it wasn’t often that she found herself looking up at people. Percy had a good four or five inches on her, though.

“You wound me, Diner Girl,” Percy sighed and he slid his wallet into his back pocket.

“Sorry, Percy,” she smirked, hoping that her ogling hadn’t been too obvious. His eyes seemed to light up when she said his name. 

“That’s cold,” Percy said, still shaking his head as he turned around to where Frank was waiting for him just outside the front door. He glanced at the little slip of paper in his hand before he turned back excitedly. That time, she knew his eyes lit up. “Annabeth.”

Her mouth opened slightly in surprise before she remembered that her name would’ve been printed on his check, listed right there to the right of the word ‘SERVER’ in tight, block letters. She closed her mouth, rolling her eyes with a smile. “Goodbye, Percy,” Annabeth said with feigned exasperation.

He grinned. “Later, Annabeth.”

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 133

“When do the results go up?” Connor asked, turning the Sunday paper over in his hand before he set it on the table. The article he’d been reading only covered the highlights of the tournament from the day before, but it was detailed enough to make it abundantly clear that Piper and Annabeth’s sweeping victory was sure to bump them up a few seats, at least nationally. “The FBI—”

“FIVB,” she corrected, using the edge of her fork to saw through her waffle. “It’s the International Volleyball Federation; not the FBI, dummy.”

“Yeah, because that acronym makes so much more sense,” he scoffed. “It’s not even the right letters.”

“That’s because the real name isn’t English,” Annabeth explained for what had to be the thousandth time. “It’s technically the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball.”

“Gesundheit,” he said with a faint drawl. Connor, who had grown up in Georgia and moved to California with his mom and brother after their parents’ divorce ten years prior, still held onto the slightest twinge of a Southern accent, and it was always a bit stronger in the mornings. “Whatever, doesn’t matter. When will the rankings post?”

“Noon tomorrow,” Annabeth answered, taking a bite.

“Are you nervous?”

“Not really,” she shrugged. “We couldn’t have played any better— we just have to see how the scoring falls with the rest of the teams.”

“Well at least this one was only in Los Angeles. When’s your next tournament?” he asked, gesturing to the waitress politely for a refill on his coffee. “It’s the one in Atlanta, right?” 

“Yeah, next month,” she sighed. 

She really wasn’t looking forward to that trip. Georgia was a long way from California and the trip would be exhausting. Realistically, she couldn’t afford to miss any more school or work than she had to, but the tournament was one of their most important events of the spring. It would count as their eleventh appearance at an FIVB event, and since teams had to enter at least twelve tournaments to be considered for Olympic Ranking, they couldn’t miss it. 

The event after that would be held in Salt Lake City at the end of May, and while it was certainly a more convenient trip than Atlanta, it was still going to be a bit of a cluster. These final tournaments would both be four-day events that would be mentally and physically demanding— add in the fact that the heat would be on in an entirely new way since it would be their last chance to showcase their skills before ranking was finalized and, well, it was going to be another exhausting weekend. 

Even with Saturday’s regional tournament being an abnormally small crowd (only eight teams as opposed to the average turnout of forty or more that came to the national events) and being fairly close to home, she was still exhausted and sore. She probably shouldn’t have been, seeing as how regularly she practiced these days, but her dedication always seemed to get the best of her. Instead of listening to her body telling her to ease up, she’d pushed even further and her shoulder was really getting its revenge now. 

“Can we not talk about volleyball this morning, actually?” she sighed, rubbing her shoulder. “Sundays are supposed to be sacred, remember?”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Connor apologized. He slid his mug to the end of the table as the waitress approached with the carafe. He drummed his hands on the table excitedly. “Did you decide on a movie?”

“No,” she groaned, “I haven’t had time to think about it.”

Sundays, being the one day of the week that Annabeth had well and truly to herself, were usually set aside for little more than completely vegetating. Usually, the day started just like this: brunch at the diner (where she took full advantage of her employee discount) with Connor Stoll, her best and oldest friend. Afterwards, they would usually head back to one of their apartments and stake a claim on the couch for the rest of the day. 

“Well, do you want to go back to your place? I think Chris and his girlfriend have probably already staked out the living room at mine,” Connor explained. “We can just pick something when we get there.”

“Maybe,” Annabeth frowned. “Katie and Thalia have really been getting into it over some stupid laundry thing and it’s been kind of tense. And you know Hazel doesn’t like it when you and I hang out in my room.”

“She’s so weird.”

“She’s not weird,” Annabeth shook her head, quick to defend her youngest roommate. Hazel was too nice to be reduced to a word like ‘weird’, even if it was only Connor saying it. “She’s just a little old fashioned. She’s not super comfortable with it and I just try to be respectful of that.”

“She does know that she doesn’t have anything to worry about here, right?” Connor asked, gesturing to Annabeth and then back at himself. “You told her that ship has sailed?”

“I’ve tried to explain it to her,” she laughed, “but I don’t think she can really wrap her head around it.”

To Hazel’s credit, most people didn’t understand the relationship between Annabeth and Connor. Yes, they’d dated once. For… kind of a long time. But that was years ago, and she really didn’t understand why it was so hard for other people to see that even though she and Connor hadn’t been very good at the whole ‘dating’ thing, they were really good at being friends— and that friends was the only thing that they were.

“Okay, so what do you wanna do, then?” Connor asked. “We can’t sit here all day; Medea will kick us out.”

“We can try my place,” Annabeth shrugged. “Maybe Thalia left for New York already.” 

“Well, that’s one good thing about Tech having a different spring break than us, I guess,” Connor nodded. “Although, with Chris and Travis off this week, they’re going to wreck my sleep schedule.”

“You really think Thalia doesn’t wreck my sleep schedule on a bi-weekly basis?” she laughed.

“That’s different,” Connor scoffed, shoveling another too-large bite of french toast into his mouth, “you already don’t sleep. You’re used to running on, like, negative two hours of sleep.”

“So you understand why my sleep is so precious to me,” Annabeth explained, setting her fork on her mostly empty plate and sliding it toward the end of the table. “And why Thaila practicing at two in the morning is mildly inconvenient.” 

“Tell her to stop,” Connor said bluntly. 

“Oh, right,” she nodded. “Why didn’t I think of that?” 

Thalia Grace was a good friend and, usually, a very good roommate. But ever since she’d joined a band six months ago, things had been louder than normal around their already crowded-beyond-comfort apartment as Thalia practiced at all hours of the night. Most of the time, Annabeth didn’t mind it— she wasn’t bad by any means. But hearing the same bass riff over and over and over again for hours on end really could push a person to the brink of snapping.

The trouble with the situation was that Thalia had always been a pretty firm adversary and it took nothing short of full on war to get her to change, and lately, Annabeth had simply not had the energy to take on such a confrontation. That sword had fallen to Katie— and while Katie wasn’t particularly bothered by Thalia’s late night bass habits, she was bothered by her apparent inability to move her laundry over to the dryer in a timely manner. 

Annabeth had decided to stay out of that one. 

As for the noise, she’d taken to popping in earplugs before bed and turning up her white noise machine, which usually blocked out enough of the sound that she was able to sleep. Plus, she wasn’t above putting Thalia’s wet laundry on the floor outside of her bedroom door if she ran into the same issue as Katie.

“You ready?” Connor asked, setting his own fork down and polishing off the last of his coffee. 

“Yep,” Annabeth nodded. She slid out of the booth and made her way to the register where Medea was already waiting. 

She held up a hand as Annabeth and Connor approached. “On the house,” Medea said with a small smile. “Good job yesterday.”

She gestured to the bulletin board behind the counter that was usually little more than a landing zone for a hodge-podge of flyers from college students who were looking for side-gigs or had lost a bike. Today, there was a large cutout from the morning paper that featured a photo of Annabeth and Piper hugging after they’d won their last match of yesterday’s tournament, right beneath a headline that read ‘CHASE-MCLEAN TEAM ON TRACK FOR SUMMER GAMES’.

Annabeth smiled. “You sure?”

“The boy still has to pay,” Medea nodded. 

“Ha,” she smirked, glancing back at Connor. 

“Oh, come on, Dee,” Connor groaned, even though he was already reaching for his wallet. “That ain’t fair.”

Medea took the card from his hands with a chuckle, her long fingernails tapping the screen on the register. “You come talk to me when you’re on your way to the Olympics and we’ll see if I can’t arrange a meal or two for you, alright?”

“I coulda been a contenda,” Connor replied, breaking out his best Marlon Brando impersonation. He shook his head as he took his card back and slid it into his wallet. “I should never have given up track. Think of what I could’ve been. We could be going to Athens together.”

“Thanks, Dee— you’ve made him all mopey and nostalgic,” Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Now I’ll have to hear about the ‘glory days' for the rest of the afternoon.”

“Anytime, hon,” Medea smiled. “You have a good day off. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“See you,” Annabeth said before she and Connor walked out of the diner.

It was quiet as they crossed the street to where Annabeth’s Corolla sat in the shade of a tall, thick-topped ficus. There was a gentle breeze drifting in from the bay, circulating the comfortably warm spring air. It was probably the most pleasant day of the year so far, and the neighborhood was alight with the sound of people making the most of their Sunday morning.

The parking meter had just begun to flash as she wiggled the key into the door, sliding in and reaching over to unlock the passenger door.

“You know, it could be us,” Connor mused thoughtfully only a moment after she’d put the car into drive. In her peripheral vision, she could see him leaning his seat all the way back to stare up at the faded ceiling liner.

“What’s that, Connor?” Annabeth asked. It came out as a sort of resigned sigh, a tone that she often employed when she humored his repetitive rants. 

“Going to the games together, Chase,” he groaned. “If I hadn’t quit track—”

“You were kicked off of the team after you got arrested for shoplifting, Connor,” she interrupted, slowing to turn at the next intersection. “That’s not the same as if you’d willingly quit.”

Slowly, the seat raised back up and she felt his eyes on her. “Why’ve you gotta be so mean to me?”

“I’m not mean to you,” she laughed. “I’m just being honest. You know what happened— you were there.”

“Maybe I like to remember it differently.”

“That’s fine,” Annabeth shrugged, reaching to turn on the radio. A light, pop-y song started playing as she rolled her window down a couple of inches. “But it doesn’t change the facts.”

“Well, the facts are that they had the wrong guy,” Connor said, crossing his arms. “Whatever happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’?”

“Connor,” she scoffed, “they found the shoes in your dorm.”

He raised his hands in a shrug of indifference. “I maintain that I don’t know how they got there.”

“You’re an idiot.”

Connor spent the entire rest of drive bemoaning the end of his running career and by the time she pulled into her parking space at her complex, Annabeth was ready to jump out of the car. Thankfully, he seemed to be nearing the end of his list of grievances by the time they reached the door to her apartment. 

It was, surprisingly, quiet inside. As soon as she stepped through the front door, she heard the dryer rolling over in the closet off the kitchen, quietly signaling that whatever feud Thalia and Katie had been in had apparently reached some form of truce. (Whether that was because they’d actually come to a compromise or because Thalia had already left town for her spring break was a mystery.)

Annabeth could see through the ugly, yellowed vertical blinds that covered the sliding glass door just enough to see that Katie was sitting on the balcony with a book, enjoying the cool morning sunshine. Soft music filtered out from behind one of the doors deeper into the apartment, a telltale sign that Hazel was probably hiding away in her room.

The good news was that this left the TV in the living room up for grabs. Connor was already making himself comfortable on the couch while she checked the whiteboard in the kitchen for any notes. Thalia had scribbled a tiny ‘be back Friday 9ish’ into the corner of the board, but nothing else had been changed or added.

She grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the fridge before she walked around the end of the counter and joined Connor on the couch. They were still bickering over what to watch when her phone dinged. 

Annabeth opened the incoming email and read the message carefully. And then she read it again. And a third time, just to be sure she wasn’t missing anything.

To: [email protected]; [email protected]
From: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
Subject: URGENT - Meeting Invitation

Good afternoon,

On behalf of the Dean of Admissions, your presence is requested at an important meeting tomorrow, Monday, March 16th at 9:00 AM. If you are unable to attend, please respond immediately with your availability. 

Kind regards,

Juniper Oren
Secretary to the Dean of Admissions and Provost of Enrollment

“Uh,” Annabeth gaped, shoving her phone into Connor’s hands, “what the hell?”

Connor’s eyes flitted over the brief message, his brow narrowing. “I mean, your tuition check cleared, right?” he asked as he handed the phone back to her. “It can’t be anything like that?”

“No way,” she shook her head, looking at the screen again. “That should be totally taken care of.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he shrugged. “But at least the meeting is tomorrow morning so you don’t have to sweat over it for too long.”

Connor was right— it could’ve been worse. But knowing that didn’t help to calm her nerves. She hadn’t really been completely honest with anyone about how extremely tight money had been for her this semester, not even Connor who she usually told everything.  

Her biggest scholarship had pulled, which was incredibly necessary since it covered the majority of her tuition. But the smaller scholarships that she’d been relying on to cover the last of those fees as well as to help pay for her housing throughout the semester hadn’t worked out. It was fine, she’d told herself again and again. She’d survive, she’d find a way to make it work. 

And so far, she’d been successful in that. But in order to make ends meet and still be able to pay for her Aegis fees and training costs, she’d been busting her ass day in and day out, and it was still barely enough. Truthfully, she shouldn’t even be having discounted brunches with Connor these days, but she knew that if she tried to object he’d get suspicious. And if Connor found out how much she was struggling, he’d freak. 

If this meeting had anything to do with her financial aid situation, Annabeth had absolutely no idea how she was going to stay in school. With spring break just coming to an end, the semester was half over. She only had one more year of undergrad, and if she could just manage to get through the next fourteen months, she’d at least have a degree that would get her into some kind of a job, even if it meant putting off grad school for a few more years. 

That idea was particularly unpleasant, but she’d spent the last few years making herself more comfortable with the thought that her masters program might have to be deferred for a while. If things didn’t change, if she continued to find herself in financial dire straits, it wouldn’t be an option. It wouldn’t be forever, she reminded herself whenever she started to worry. Just long enough to pull herself out of the pit she was in. Then she’d get back on track. 

Thalia had once asked her why she didn’t just ask her dad for the money, which had been an uncomfortable conversation. Her parents weren’t rich by any means (not like Piper’s parents, anyway, or even Thalia’s for that matter), but her dad made a more-than-comfortable living and when she’d been living at home, she’d never wanted for anything. 

But walking out on the most important competition of the year when the entire league was betting on you had consequences, Frederick had told her. And she’d embarrassed herself, her teammate, her coach, and the entire family with what she’d done. A year and a half later, when Annabeth had dealt with the issues that had caused her to withdraw the first time and she’d decided that she was ready to work her way back onto the sand, her father had nearly lost his mind. He was shocked that she would even suggest such a thing. 

In the eyes of Frederick Chase, Annabeth had committed an unforgivable sin and she was, apparently, meant to spend the rest of her life thinking about it. He’d been furious at the notion of her returning to training, refusing to help with paying for a new coach or any sort of conditioning. To make matters even worse, he’d been so inexplicably and diametrically opposed to Annabeth’s decision to study architecture that he had refused to assist with any of her university costs. 

However, coming from a family with money, the financial aid department didn’t really understand that her family wouldn’t be supporting her. That had been a battle in and of itself, but eventually, she was able to secure enough scholarships that she was able to enroll. A walk-on tryout earned her a spot on the school’s volleyball team, and even though it was hardcourt, it was a good way to stay in shape and came with a small scholarship. Still, her heart had always been in beach volleyball, so she continued to train as best as she could in the meantime: working out religiously, restricting her diet, and even going down to the beach on the weekend to join in pickup games.

When Piper McLean’s trainer had reached out a few weeks before the end of her freshman year, Annabeth had initially rejected the offer to team up, knowing that she would never be able to afford training on her own. Piper had footed the bill back then — and to be completely honest, Annabeth knew that she’d do it again if Piper knew how tight her finances were — but she was far too prideful to ever let on how much she was struggling.

Money was something she hated to think about, and yet, it was almost constantly on her mind these days.

She tried to focus on the movie that Connor had picked, tried to think about anything else but that just-vague-enough-to-be-ominous email hung in her mind the rest of the afternoon. The only silver lining was that she’d been able to get a coworker to take her opening shift at the coffee shop so that she could make it to the meeting, which meant that (with any luck) she might actually get a decent night’s sleep.

Annabeth spent the rest of the evening trying to convince Connor that she wasn’t too worried about what the email might mean, all while thinking that maybe if he’d let it go then she might be able to forget about it, too. By the time she dropped him off at his apartment after dinner, the ball of anxiety in her chest was becoming difficult to ignore.

She returned home and went straight to bed, hoping that sleep wouldn’t prove to be too evasive. For the first time in six months, Annabeth fell asleep without earplugs. 

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 132

Pacing outside of the Administrative Building seemed like as good of a way to start the day as any. Annabeth had slept pretty soundly, all things considered, even if she had been staring at her alarm for ten minutes before it finally went off. It was busy on campus that morning as students rushed to their classes with a bit of their energy restored from spring break the previous week. Even with all of the movement and sound around her, she was deep inside her own mind. 

Finally, she decided to give up on wearing a path into the sidewalk and head inside. It was only 8:45 but she figured she’d rather be early than late, especially if the fate of her college career potentially hung in the balance. She’d been so nervous that morning, picking out a smart blazer to pair with a plain blue blouse and dark jeans in an attempt to look at least somewhat professional. Hell, she’d even gone through the trouble to put on makeup, something she usually skipped on days she had mid-day practice— which was, admittedly, most days.

The Dean of Admissions’s office was located on the second floor of the building, at the end of a long, wide corridor lined with pictures of some of the school’s more prestigious and accomplished alumni. As Annabeth made her way slowly toward the door, she looked over the photographs of former professional athletes, renowned scientists, a couple of authors, and even a Noble prize winner. It was intimidating, to say the least, and she wondered if that was the reason they were there in the first place. 

She opened the door to a small waiting area that was empty except for two chairs against the wall and a petite red-haired woman behind a reception desk. The secretary looked up as Annabeth closed the door behind her.

“Annabeth Chase?” she smiled, a polite, warm tone to her voice. The nameplate on the desk in front of her read ‘Juniper Oren’ in a thin, serif font. 

“That’s me,” Annabeth nodded. She adjusted her blazer as she glanced around the small room. There were several plants— probably too many for the size of the space, but they were all beautiful and looked exceptionally healthy. It smelled light and clean, like a crisp spring breeze, and the faint sound of woodwind music just barely reached her ears.

“Dr. Brunner is ready for you,” Juniper said, gesturing toward the closed door on the right wall of the small room. “You can go on in.”

“Thanks,” she replied softly as she took a step toward the door. 

There was a long, thin window just above the handle and Annabeth’s feet came to a stop when she looked into the office on the other side of the door. Dr. Brunner was there, of course— his wheelchair positioned behind a stately walnut desk. But there was someone else in the room as well. A man, with his back to the door, sat in one of the two chairs across from the desk. 

Annabeth glanced back at the secretary. “It, um— it looks like he’s with someone, already.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Juniper answered without looking away from her computer screen. “He’s expecting you as well.”

When Annabeth glanced back to the door, Dr. Brunner was staring at her through the window and gestured for her to enter. Something about this felt very off, but she squared her shoulders and walked into the office anyway. 

“Miss Chase,” Dr. Brunner beamed, giving her a bright, congenial smile. He waved his hand toward the empty chair in front of him, right beside the person that was already seated with his back still to her. “Please, have a seat.” 

As she walked hesitantly toward the desk, toward the curly, dark haired man sitting across from the Dean, recognition hit: she did know this person. Slowly, his head turned, sea green eyes looking at her apologetically as her assumption was confirmed. ‘What the hell?’ she thought to herself, her brow furrowing as she sat down in the empty chair and stared in confusion at Percy Jackson who was sitting barely three inches away. Dr. Brunner cleared his throat and her head turned toward the sound, shifting her glare to him instead. 

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll be happy to explain everything, Miss Chase,” he nodded as he opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a newspaper. He flipped it open to a page that had been flagged with a neon green Post-It note and set it on the desk in front of her. It was the article about the tournament from the previous weekend, the same one that Medea had hung on the corkboard in the diner. 

While she was still staring at the photo of herself and Piper, Dr. Brunner pulled out another paper and placed it beside the one already on the desk. This one, however, showed a photo of Percy, a shiny swimming cap hiding his mop of dark, curly hair. He was caught mid-cheer from the looks of it, goggles in one hand and the other resting on the edge of the pool as he smiled up at what she assumed was his time from whatever race he’d just swam. She tore her eyes from the broad, celebratory grin the man on the page was giving her to read the headline that accompanied the photo: ‘OLYMPIC LEGACY PERCY JACKSON BREAKS RECORDS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT MEET’. 

Okay. So he was a swimmer. An Olympic-level swimmer, apparently, but she could probably have guessed as much from his build if she’d spent any time at all thinking about it. If nothing else, she now understood why his hair had been wet when he’d come into the diner on Friday night, and why his shoulders were so obviously strong. Both of those things made sense in light of this discovery— but those were the only things that this photo clarified. What did any of that have to do with her? And what did her volleyball tournament have to do with him? Annabeth looked over to find Percy staring at his lap, his expression guarded and completely unreadable.

“We’ve always been very proud of our student athletes here,” Dr. Brunner said, filling the tense silence with his even, diplomatic baritone. “We hope that they are proud of their alma mater, as well.”

Annabeth continued to stare at the Dean, more questions entering her mind every second. “Okay.”

There was another long silence. Dr. Brunner opened, then closed, then opened his mouth again, as if he wasn’t exactly sure how to phrase what he intended to say. His brow creased as he folded his hands on the desk in front of him. “Mr. Jackson and I,” he began, causing Percy’s head to snap up at the mention of his name, “had the privilege of discussing this matter briefly before your arrival. We — the University, that is — have a bit of a proposition for the two of you. An opportunity, if you will.”

Annabeth looked to her side again, seeing a red flush beginning to spread over the back of Percy’s neck. She didn’t like the sound of any of this and didn’t much care for the energy that was filling the room. Begrudgingly, she shifted her attention back to Dr. Brunner.

“Two accomplished young athletes such as yourselves garner plenty of attention as it is,” Dr. Brunner continued, seemingly unbothered by the cold reaction he was getting from his captive audience. “That attention will surely only grow as we move further into the year and inch closer to the Olympics. And eyes that are on you are also on our fine institution.”

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Annabeth sank slightly into her chair. Was that what this was about? Dr. Brunner wanted to make sure that she and Percy were on their best behavior so they didn’t bring some sort of shame upon the University? It wouldn’t be especially surprising, but she did feel like this ambush was a little melodramatic. Still, she was relieved to know that her enrollment was not presently at risk.

“Our marketing team has proposed a plan to make the most of your exposure,” he said, a hint of uneasiness seeping into his words for the first time. It was a small slip and he recovered quickly, but it was Annabeth’s first hint that maybe Brunner wasn’t entirely sure about this meeting either. “They believe that they can tell quite a compelling story to our news partners and donors, and—” 

Percy shifted in his chair as Dr. Brunner’s voice died in his throat. His eyes were on the floor again, a contemplative look on his face as he listened and Annabeth could tell that he seemed to be measuring her reaction more than anything else. Whatever Brunner was about to say, Percy had clearly already heard it. 

“Well, they seem to think that—”

“They want us to act like we’re dating,” Percy said abruptly, cutting off Dr. Brunner’s attempts to deliver the sentiment in a more conciliatory fashion. His eyes were glued to the Dean now, a still-indecipherable expression on his own face. “They think it’ll be good press for the school if they can sell us as a couple.”

Annabeth looked back at Dr. Brunner, hoping he’d appear as shocked as she currently felt. She had thought that surely Percy had misunderstood, that she would look back at the greying man across the desk and he would correct the miscommunication. Instead, he merely looked a bit shy. 

“Well, that is quite a bit more bluntly phrased than I would have put it,” the Dean said after a beat, “but I suppose the essential point is correct.”

She looked over at Percy who had gone back to staring at his hands. Why wasn’t he as shocked by this as she was? It was absolutely ridiculous— the notion that a University would meddle in the personal lives of their students to this degree, and all to secure a few donations? Despite her best efforts to keep her focus on the bigger picture, Annabeth couldn’t help but feel like the way Percy had responded told her that there was little he desired less than to pretend to date her— and she really could not let herself get distracted with trying to figure out why that realization was so annoying to her.

“We’re only asking for six months,” Dr. Brunner continued, as if this were a completely normal conversation to have. “You would present yourselves as a couple; a pair of young Olympic hopefuls that are working steadily toward their goals and representing our institution’s fine athletic programs.”

“I don’t even play for the school anymore.”

“No, but you did before you transitioned back to private training, correct?” Dr. Brunner asked. Annabeth nodded, though her scowl remained. “And our very accomplished volleyball team was one of the dominating factors in your decision to commit to our institution, if I recall.”

She nodded again, unable to deny that what Dr. Brunner was saying was true but annoyed by it all the same. Annabeth was already staring at Percy when he finally looked at her. “You knew about this?” she asked, frowning.

“Only a few minutes before you got here,” he said carefully. “Annabeth, I know this all sounds kind of ridiculous but I… don’t think it’s the worst idea.”

Annabeth blinked. Just seconds ago, she could have sworn that he’d bristled at the mere idea of this scheme. She’d felt like he was on her side in believing that this was one of the stupidest ideas that she’d ever heard of— even if it did feel a little insulting to have him turn his nose up at her so quickly. Maybe it’s what she deserved for not giving him her name before. 

“You’ll do a few interviews, a couple of photo ops— put on a nice face for the school,” Brunner added cheerily before she could pull a response together. “And of course, our Public Relations team will be working to secure any additional partnership opportunities that might be lucrative for you.”

There it was. The money. Percy was probably just along for the ride, looking for new sponsorships and endorsements. “I can’t believe you would do this,” she shook her head at him. She barely even knew him, had never really even had a conversation with him, but the thought that he might go along with this was still shocking. “For what? Money?”

“Well,” Dr. Brunner interrupted, “actually, Mr. Jackson has made it quite clear that he would like any compensation he may be offered as part of this agreement to be deferred to you.”

A white hot flash of heat seared on the back of her neck, reaching its fingers slowly around the front of her throat and gripping tightly. She couldn’t speak, she could hardly breathe. Diner Girl, he’d called her as he’d flashed her a bright, cocky smile and slid his platinum credit card across the counter. At the time, it had almost felt endearing. Now she wondered if there had been a dig hiding beneath those words— an insult, a subtle taunt about her station.

Dr. Brunner was still talking but his voice was a whir in her ears, an empty, toneless drone that was no longer shaping itself into words. Her eyes were burning with angry tears but she’d be damned if she was going to let these men see her cry. Annabeth rose to her feet and stomped toward the door, ignoring Dr. Brunner’s protests as she exited the office. 

-

It took a while for him to find her, but ten minutes later, she heard the footsteps. Annabeth had found a quiet enough bench in the lobby of the Administrative Building, settling into the shadow of the staircase as she caught her breath and fought back her anger. She always cried when she was angry and she hated that. It made her feel pitiful to know that her rage might ever be mistaken for weakness.

She’d finally regained her composure and had begun to calm down when Percy settled onto the bench beside her. He waited what felt like several minutes before he finally spoke. “Please just… let me explain myself.”

“What exactly is there to explain?” she asked, sniffling once before she lifted her head and looked pointedly away from him. She focused instead on the wall across from the bench where a large, professionally framed portrait of the 1989 football team holding up a National Championship trophy hung. “Your sudden interest in charity work?”

“I think you got the wrong idea up there,” Percy said. He rubbed the back of his neck before he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Out of the corner of her eye, she could tell that he was watching her. “About me, and about why I think we should consider doing this.”

Again, she bit her lip. Annabeth could scarcely believe that the Dean of Admissions of all people would suggest such a thing. And she wouldn’t have expected Percy to be so quick to agree, but then again, she barely even knew him. Still, it was all so preposterous, she almost wondered if she’d overslept— if she was still dreaming, that might explain some of this absurdity. But even her dreams weren't usually this strange. 

After a full minute of silence, Annabeth shifted on the bench, angling her shoulders to look more directly at him. Percy straightened, clearly prepared for whatever fight he’d anticipated when he followed her down here. “Let’s get one thing straight right now,” she said, her words short and clipped. “I’m not anyone’s charity case.”

“Annabeth—”

“And the fact that you’d even insinuate—”

“I didn’t insinuate anything!”

“Yes, you did,” she shook her head. “Forfeiting all of your benefits? Seriously?” He stared back at her, a tinge of guilt in his expression, and she knew that she was right.

“I only said that,” Percy said after a moment, a frown tugging the side of his mouth down, “because I know how hard you work.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” she scoffed. She didn’t fight the urge to roll her eyes this time, looking back across the hall at the portrait as she continued to fume. “You think because you come into the diner one time—”

“It wasn’t the first time I’ve been there, Annabeth,” Percy sighed, causing her to look back at him. “I go to Medea’s a lot, and you’re always there, usually way too busy to even notice— obviously. Do you know how many times I’ve seen you at the coffee shop well before daylight, and then again at the diner that same night?” Annabeth opened her mouth to reply but no answer came. “Yeah,” Percy frowned. He looked genuinely upset in a way that made her feel a little uncomfortable. “And I know you’re training right now, and you’re going to school full time. So you’re getting like, what, five hours of sleep a night? Maybe? It’s not healthy.”

An awkward moment passed as she tried to think about the implications of what he’d just said. How many times had he been to the diner? How often had they crossed paths before that night? She couldn’t think about any of that right now, though, because Percy was still staring at her expectantly. 

Instead, Annabeth pursed her lips in annoyance. Percy was technically right — her current schedule was nothing short of nightmarish — but she wasn’t in any mood to acknowledge it. “I don’t see how any of that is relevant to this.”

“What Brunner was trying to tell you before you stormed out is that they’re offering us both big, fat scholarships if we agree to do this,” he explained. “Plus, a stipend for the rest of this semester and all of next year. You could quit one of those jobs and stop spreading yourself so thin. You’d have more time for yourself and maybe even get a little rest before summer.”

Her jaw was tight as she mulled over his words. Maybe she was missing the point, but her wounded pride was crying out for attention. All she could see in his eyes was pity and she really, really hated that.

“Accepting help from people that are in a position to help you isn’t the same as asking for a handout, Annabeth,” he said. “I don’t need the money, so I told them they should put it all in your name if we agree to this. It’s not charity, it’s just… human decency.”

“So what’s in it for you?” she asked, still not convinced. 

He stretched his neck from side to side as he considered his response, those broad shoulders tugging at the pale blue hoodie that he’d chosen that morning. “My life won’t really change all that much, I guess,” Percy answered. “Maybe we’ll get a little exposure and I’ll sign an endorsement or something, but that’s not why I’m doing it. Mostly I just think I’d feel like a real jerk if I stood in the way of you getting this scholarship just because it’s kind of a weird situation.”

“Yeah, because that really makes me feel like I’m not a charity case.”

“Annabeth, come on—”

“Six months is a long time for us to pretend to be together,” Annabeth continued, interrupting Percy before he could speak any sort of rationalization. “Don’t you have a girlfriend or something?”

“Not at the moment,” he answered, shrugging casually. “Do you?”

“Have a girlfriend? No.”

“Alright,” Percy shrugged again. “What about a boyfriend?”

“Also no.”

“Any other sort of romantic partner that would potentially be upset by the idea that you might be seeing someone else?”

Annabeth sighed. “No.”

“So, there goes that excuse.”

“It’s not an excuse; it’s a valid reason,” she grumbled. 

“It’s a nonstarter,” Percy almost laughed. “You’re not seeing anyone and neither am I. Next excuse; let me hear it.”

She frowned. Her well of excuses seemed to have dried-up pretty quickly. Even if she didn’t love the idea, it wasn’t as if they would really be risking anything by playing along. It wasn’t even like she hadn’t had the thought of giving Percy her number the other night, and if she’d had the space in her life to start seeing someone, she very well might have put a hook out.

Annabeth dropped her gaze to the floor, unwilling to accept that he was actually making a lot of very valid points. This couldn’t be happening— ten minutes ago the idea had made her so angry that she’d run out of the room like a dejected toddler and now she was a half-inch away from thinking that it might be a good idea. All because the mere notion of not having to stress quite so much about money had all but liquified her spine.

Would it make her a sell-out? Would taking this offer totally wreck her conscience? Probably not. It wasn’t like they were getting married or anything. They’d just have to act like they liked each other for a few months, and to be perfectly honest, Percy (so far, anyway) seemed to be a pretty easy person to like. 

“I know you don’t want to hear it, and probably least of all from me,” he said gently, “but getting to the Olympics is the easy part. You’re really going to need to focus on training and you need to be taking care of yourself these next few months. You obviously train hard — I mean, look at you — but you have to be able to let yourself rest too, and there’s no way you’re doing much of that.”

Six months, in the grand scheme of things, was not that much time. And with as busy as she was sure to be between now and the Olympics, it would probably be over before she knew it. She felt fairly confident that she could do anything for six months, especially if it meant financial stability. There was something else, though. The thing that had been bothering her more than anything else.

“Why were you already in there?” she asked, turning her head to look more directly at him, meeting his gaze fully for the first time. She didn’t like the idea that Percy and Dr. Brunner had spent an undisclosed amount of time discussing this before she’d arrived. She really didn’t like that they’d apparently already come to some sort of bare-bones arrangement without her. 

Green eyes swept over her face and she got the feeling that he was deciding whether or not to be honest. Finally, he sighed and leaned his head back against the brick wall, his gaze focused on the ceiling. “Frank’s been giving me kind of a hard time about you teasing me at the diner the other night.” Annabeth’s brow furrowed, unsure how that related to any of this, but he continued before she could wonder for very long. “Then on Sunday, he saw that picture of you and your teammate in the paper and was rubbing it in my face— going on about how I was going to have to fight for the spotlight and all that,” Percy added mirthlessly. His head lulled to the side, giving her a pointed glance. “Which, for the record, is all yours. The spotlight, I mean. You can have it.”

“What does that have to do with any of this?” she asked, ignoring his latter comments. 

“All that to say that I knew you were on the Olympic Committee’s radar, too,” he explained. “Then I noticed you were copied on that email they sent us and I figured they were up to something. I got here early because I wanted to know what it was— but I promise you, I didn’t expect this.”

Chewing absently at the inside of her cheek, she kicked herself for automatically thinking the worst of him. She had a bad habit of doing that, especially to men— though, to be fair, she had pretty good reason. In her life, particularly in her time in the competitive sports arena, when men were being kind to you, there was always a motive at work in the background.

But Percy didn’t give her that same feeling. He looked at her with an honesty in his expression that would be hard to miss, and every point he made seemed to stem from a place of genuine concern— a concern that she’d done absolutely nothing to earn. Besides, it wasn't exactly his fault that she'd been too distracted with the content of the email that she hadn't even noticed that he'd been copied.

“I’m not going to try to convince you of anything,” Percy said after she’d been silently mulling it over for a minute or two, “but I think you should come back upstairs with me and hear Brunner out. At least know what they’re offering before you give them an answer.”

Annabeth let out a long breath. “And you think that this is a good idea?”

"Does it matter?" He shrugged. “If they want to throw money at us for going along with some stupid plan that probably won’t even work, I don’t see what’s so bad about taking it. If you want to do it, I’m okay with it.”

“Fine.” She swallowed and got to her feet. “I’ll listen.”

-

It was nearly two hours later that she and Percy walked silently out of the Administrative Building. The instructions were clear and simple: they’d do what they could to make themselves available (within reason) to the school for press-related functions, sell a believable romance to the papers and use every opportunity to speak highly of the school’s Athletics department, and, most importantly, no one could know the truth (not friends, not roommates, and especially not Piper). This would go on throughout the summer, then a quiet breakup would be staged a few weeks after they returned from Athens and they would be free to return to their normal lives.

The big selling point, the thing that had finally won her over, was one that Percy had managed to negotiate: the school would cover their travel expenses for the Olympics. At first, she’d been surprised that Percy would turn around and ask for even more after she’d learned exactly how large of a scholarship was being offered— but Percy wasn’t new to this game, apparently, and he knew exactly how to play them. 

His message was clear: if the University wanted to use them, they were going to pay.

Dr. Brunner had assured them that everything would be sorted out by the end of the week— which Annabeth inferred to mean, “Your blood money will be added to your student account by Friday! Go Eagles!” 

Okay, it wasn’t blood money, and maybe she was being a little dramatic. But this still felt so wrong. It wasn’t even that she didn’t want to do it so much as it was that she felt so weird about lying to so many people for money. And for what? So the University could boast about their Athletics? It didn’t make any sense. She couldn’t imagine that enough people would even care about their Olympic journey, much less view it as a reason to donate money to the school.

Percy didn’t seem to be entirely convinced either, but his attitude remained cautiously optimistic. Besides, even if the marketing angle was a complete bust, they’d still get their perks. Annabeth finally resigned herself to accepting that being tasked with playing house with Percy for a few months in exchange for not having to worry about money until after graduation was a pretty easy gig.

She pulled out her phone as she walked, tapping a quick message to Connor just to let him know that the mysterious meeting hadn’t resulted in her being forcibly removed from campus, kicking and screaming. He sent back a thumbs up emoji almost instantly and she dropped the phone back into her bag. She had no idea what she was going to tell him about all of this, but she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.

“Do you wanna grab dinner tonight?”

She jumped at the voice. Annabeth had been so in her head that she’d almost forgotten that Percy was walking along beside her. “What?”

“Dinner,” he laughed. “I asked you if you wanted to get dinner tonight.”

Annabeth blinked. “You know we’re not actually dating, right?”

Percy didn’t look deterred. He pushed his hands into his pockets as they continued to make their way toward the parking garage. “I’m just saying,” he shrugged, “if we’re going to have to convince our friends, roommates, and teammates that we’re dating, it might help if we actually went on a few dates. We should probably be seen together occasionally, don’t you think?”

Annabeth had, admittedly and probably foolishly, not thought of that. She’d been so focused on the thought of having to lie to reporters and flirt with Percy in front of cameras that she’d mostly forgotten that the groundwork still needed to be laid. And convincing a bunch of strangers that they were head over heels in love was going to be way easier than convincing their friends that this relationship had secretly been going on for a while now.

So maybe Percy was right. Maybe they did need to be seen in public together at least a few times before the summer rolled around. But that didn’t change the fact that she still didn’t have any free time, not until the University came through with their end of the bargain, anyway.

“I have to work tonight,” she answered after a moment of thought. 

“You’re not going to quit?” Percy asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow as he glanced over. “I thought that was the whole point of doing this.”

“I will, I just—” she shook her head, “I’m not quitting on Dee. I’m going to try to switch to the morning shift at the diner and quit my job at the coffee shop. I hate that place, anyway. They probably won’t even care that I’m leaving, but Dee’s been good to me.” Percy nodded thoughtfully as if he agreed with her decision. “I’m gonna go by before class and turn in my notice, then I’ll talk to Medea at work tonight.”

“Here,” he said, digging his cell phone out of his back pocket and holding it out to her. When she just stared at the cold, black rectangle in his hand, he smirked. “We should probably have each other’s numbers, yeah?”

Annabeth sighed and nodded, coming to a stop on the sidewalk across the street from the garage as she took the phone and typed her number into the contact field. When she handed it back, he tapped the screen a few times and she felt a faint bzz from inside her bag.

“There,” he nodded. “Now you have mine, too.”

“Fantastic,” Annabeth muttered, pressing the crosswalk button and waiting for the flashing red hand in the box on the opposite lamppost to signal that it was her turn to cross. 

“Cheer up, Diner Girl,” Percy nudged her just as the signal changed to a white stick-figure and they stepped off the curb. “It’s gonna be a long six months if you stay this bitter.”

Chapter Text

7:26 PM - ANNABETH:
Good (?) news: cafe was pissed
so they’re not putting me on
the schedule even though my last
day isn’t technically for two
weeks. Dee was excited about
me moving to mornings at least.

7:28 PM - PERCY J:
Sweet, glad it worked out

7:28 PM - PERCY J:
when do u wanna get dinner?

7:29 PM - ANNABETH:
I’m free tomorrow night?

7:42 PM - PERCY J:
Sorry Tuesdays don’t work
for me. Wednesday?

7:44 PM - ANNABETH:
Sounds good.

7:51 PM - PERCY J:
Cool. Text me ur address
and I’ll pick u up at 6

-

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 130

She learned quickly that there really was no point in arguing with Percy. 

When she’d tried to insist that he didn’t have to pick her up, he'd been immovable— and after a dozen texts back and forth, she finally conceded. It really wasn’t worth the fight, and more than that, it wasn’t worth setting a bad tone for what was surely about to be the most indescribably awkward six months of her life.

Annabeth hadn’t spoken to him since Monday night when they’d settled on a time. She’d even silenced the urge to ask what he did on Tuesdays, knowing that it was probably too early in their friendship (Is that what they were? Friends?) to be revealing how nosy she could be. Now, as she stood in front of her dresser, trying with everything in her being to keep from anxiously chewing her fingernails down to the quick, she was really second-guessing this entire thing. 

What should one wear on a fake first date? 

On one hand, she didn’t want to try too hard and make Percy think that she misunderstood what this was all about— but on the other, she didn’t want him to think that she wasn’t taking this seriously, either. He was going along with all of this seemingly entirely for her benefit, and on the rare occasion that she'd actually been able to push aside the raging nausea that that thought gave her, she was able to recognize how selfless he had been in agreeing to this stupid arrangement. 

After an eternity of back and forth, she’d settled on a simple sundress, dark blue with white polka dots that hit just past her knee. It was a dress that called for heels, something that might have made her reconsider her decision if this not-date were with anyone else, but Percy was tall enough that she didn’t feel like it would be too weird. Besides, it’s not like his opinion really mattered anyway. It was an outfit that made her feel good, and she was going to need every ounce of confidence she could muster to power through this evening.

It hit her twenty minutes later, while she was carefully curling her lashes, that she was nervous. Why the hell was she nervous? Probably she could have assumed that it was because she hadn’t been on an actual date in over a year— but really, this wasn’t even an actual date, right? Truthfully, she shouldn’t even be putting all of this effort in, anyway. 

Annabeth had just finished her makeup when her phone dinged. It was five-forty on the dot and the message was, unsurprisingly, from Percy. 

5:40 PM - PERCY J:
Don’t wear a dress

That was it. No context, no explanation. She tapped a hasty reply to ask him what he had against dresses but when she didn’t get a response in the next two minutes, she decided that she should just go ahead and change. The ripped jeans she’d deemed too casual earlier were the first thing within reach, and she paired them with a cropped white tee.

It wasn’t cold by any means, but it wasn’t quite warm either, so she decided she should probably bring a jacket just in case. After a few moments of consideration, Annabeth decided that the simple black, leather jacket helped dress the look up enough that she wouldn’t look totally out of place if wherever they were going ended up being slightly more-than-casual.

She’d only just settled on a pair of low, block-heeled boots when her phone chimed again. Without looking, Annabeth felt safe to assume that Percy had arrived. Her stomach knotted, flipping once before she pushed the nerves away. This was a business deal, dammit, and a very important one. She could pull this off— she had to pull this off.

After tugging up the zipper on the inside ankle of the boots, she straightened and hurried to answer the text. 

5:57 PM - PERCY J:
I think I’m at the right place

5:58 PM - ANNABETH:
Be down in a second

As soon as the door to her building swung closed behind her, her feet came to a stop. “What the hell is that?”

“What’s wrong?” Percy smirked. He’d traded in his hoodie for the night, opting instead to dress up (at least, dressier than the very casual attire she’d seen him sporting every other time their paths had crossed) with a dark blue henley and nice jeans. His curly almost-but-not-quite-black hair was a little wild, no doubt caused by the vehicle Percy was resting on.

“You have a motorcycle,” Annabeth said, more a statement than a question. “A motorcycle.”

He just grinned. “I do,” Percy laughed. He held out the helmet he’d had tucked under his arm before. “You ever been on one?”

“Do I look like someone that tempts fate often?”

If her tone was offending him even the slightest, he didn’t let it show. His bright green eyes sparkled, a perfect compliment to the trouble-making grin on his lips. “Maybe not,” Percy shrugged. “But there’s never a bad time to start.”

The tiny part of her that had sort of been looking forward to this dinner was completely gone now. Her mind drifted back to high school driver’s ed classes, her father’s monotone, repetitive warnings, and bad Lifetime Network movies that highlighted the dangers of motorcycles— and those memories weren’t even within the context of the unpredictable San Francisco freeways. 

Her eyes darted to his foot, watching as a large boot pushed down the kickstand and Percy swung his opposite leg over the seat to dismount. He walked toward her slowly, almost cautiously, with that same gleam in his eyes. With careful motions, he watched her face for any sign of resistance before raising the helmet and lowering it over her head. 

Annabeth wasn’t sure why she didn’t put up more of a fight. She could have refused. She could have put her foot down and driven herself instead. But she didn’t. Instead, she watched his expression softening as he used gentle fingers to fasten and tighten the strap of the helmet. 

When it was secure, Percy took a step back to admire his work. “There. With the jacket and boots,” he grinned, “you almost look the part.”

“If you wreck, I’m going to kill you,” she warned, forbidding the little grin that was attempting to pull at the corners of her mouth from moving any further, even though she was confident that the dark shield across her face pretty much entirely concealed her expression anyway.

Percy stepped backwards toward the bike, situating himself on the front of the seat without ever breaking eye contact. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Come on, Diner Girl,” he smirked, patting the spot behind him once as he adjusted the kickstand. “Hop up.”

Her heart was loud in her ears. It wasn’t that she was easily frightened or even that she hadn’t done her fair share of thrill-seeking in her lifetime, but this felt like a pretty big leap from a naked, midnight polar-plunge with her roommates. Like clockwork, her father’s reprimanding voice filled her mind, chastising her for even considering doing this. That was enough to push her feet forward.

As she closed the distance, sliding onto the back of the bike, she really hoped that she looked more comfortable than she felt. Her pulse was still racing as she settled onto the seat, wrapping her arms awkwardly around Percy’s waist. “Is this okay?”

“You’re gonna want to hold on tighter than that,” he answered, and her grip tightened. Percy held the clutch and pressed the switch as the engine roared to life and he glanced back at her one more time. “You good?”

Annabeth nodded, quick and curt. Her mouth was dry. “Just go.”

A short chuckle was all she heard before the throttle revved up and they surged forward. 

Once the initial panic of ‘holy shit this thing is fast’ wore off, the ride was almost enjoyable. It was a pleasant mid-March evening, even if it was a bit chilly thanks to the wind, and the route Percy had chosen avoided most of the more heavily trafficked areas. The quieter, slower side streets and sloping hills made the ride seem far less daunting than she’d expected when she’d first approached the bike. 

She figured out pretty quickly that they were heading for the wharf. It made sense, really. It was just about the right time to catch a sunset, and the piers would, hopefully, not be too crowded on a Wednesday night. 

By the time they arrived, she was pretty sure that her interlocked fingers had molded themselves together permanently from how tightly she’d been holding on. Percy balanced the bike, resting sturdy legs on the ground while she climbed off. 

The ends of her hair were a wreck from whipping behind her and she was sure that the helmet had completely flattened out the top. She unfastened the chin strap and tugged the helmet free, tucking it under her arm just like Percy had done earlier. She caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of one of the windows of a car they’d parked beside and made a quick attempt to smooth down her hair before opting to just tuck it into a low bun.

“What’d you think?” he asked with a grin, lowering the kickstand. He rested back on the seat for a moment, glancing into the side mirror as he ran a hand through his own messy curls and tamed them back down to a reasonable state.

“Why don’t you wear a helmet?” Annabeth asked, ignoring his question.

“I usually do,” Percy answered, sparing one last look at his reflection before he turned his attention to her. He nodded toward the gear resting in the crook of her elbow. “But I only have the one.”

“Don’t give rides to girls very often?” she smirked. 

“I don’t really get to take the bike out much at all,” he shook his head, dismounting and reaching out to take the helmet from her. He turned back to the motorcycle, raising the seat and tucking the helmet into the compartment there before he faced her again. Was he frowning?

“Why not?”

“How about we go inside?” Percy offered, artfully dodging the question. His smile returned as he gestured toward the door and she took in the restaurant for the first time. 

Nestled into the row of buildings lining the waterfront, the restaurant didn’t appear to be a particularly fancy place, which was probably for the best considering she was fairly certain that they both looked like they’d only narrowly escaped crossing paths with a tornado. The sign over the door was lit up on blue neon and boasted about their seventy year presence in the Bay Area, which Annabeth was a bit impressed by, though she wouldn’t be quick to admit it. 

Percy held the door for her, an innocent enough gesture that still made her feel a bit strange. And that’s when it hit her.

This wasn’t real to them, but to everyone else in this restaurant — to everyone else in their lives — this was a date. A real ‘I like you; you like me’ date. And it would probably be the first of many if they were going to be successful at selling this charade. Should she take his arm? Hold his hand? Would he think that it more strange if she did, or if she didn’t?  

Then there was that fleeting thought, the momentary, stupidly selfish ego boost at the idea of being seen on what an onlooker would likely assume to be a date with someone as handsome as Percy. Because, whether she felt keen to acknowledge it or not, he was very attractive. In a different life — one where they weren’t being pulled into so many directions by the self-imposed tortures that they lovingly referred to as ‘their sports’ — they might have even gone on a couple of real dates. 

'No,' she thought to herself. ' I can’t start thinking like that.' And she knew it was true. They had agreed to this transactional experience, strange as it was, and letting herself muse about what might’ve been in another universe would just be setting them up for disaster. 

Annabeth snapped out of her mental spiral as the hostess greeted them and Percy asked for a table on the deck. They followed the short brunette through the dining room to a door that opened up to a wide wooden deck filled with tables that overlooked the Bay. She slid into the seat opposite him as the hostess set their menus on the table in front of them.

“Your waiter will be with you in a few moments,” she nodded as she stepped away, making her way back to the podium near the front door. 

Glancing down at the menu, Annabeth quickly picked out an entrée before looking out over the waterfront. The Oakland Bay bridge was the focal point of the view, taking up most of the horizon against a pink and orange backdrop of sunset sky. 

Annabeth had lived in San Francisco most of her life, but things like this still captivated her. The bridge was an iconic part of the regional architecture and imagery, even if it did fall into the shadow of the more easily recognizable Golden Gate Bridge. From their spot on the pier, you could just point out Alcatraz Island through the evening haze — if you knew what you were looking for, of course. 

When she looked back, Percy had his phone in his hands, the camera pointed in her direction. 

“What are you doing?” she asked, suddenly self conscious of the way she’d been staring absently out at the Bay for… well, who knows how long. The waiter hadn’t come by yet, at least, so it couldn’t have been that long. 

“I figure I need a contact photo for you,” he explained, setting the phone to the side shyly. “And you got all dressed up so—”

“Good evening,” the waiter smiled, cutting Percy’s explanation short. “Can I get you started with some drinks?” They both ordered water and the waiter returned promptly to deliver their glasses and take their food order. And then it was silent.

“You know,” Percy said after a while, following her gaze out over the water, “that bridge collapsed once.”

“Not exactly,” she corrected. “Just a part of it. Like thirty years ago, during the Loma Prieta earthquake.” When no further response came, she looked back across the table. “What?”

“I just wasn’t expecting you to know all that,” Percy shrugged. “Did you grow up here?”

“Yeah, lived here my whole life,” she nodded. “Never been too far from the Bay, besides traveling to tournaments. What about you?”

Percy shook his head, reaching for his glass and taking a sip of water. “Nah, I grew up in New York.” That made sense. She’d noticed a strange hint of an accent in his words, but hadn’t been able to place it. Remaining traces of a New York accent actually fit the description pretty well.

“So how did you get all the way out here?”

He frowned slightly and she wondered if he might try to change the subject again— something he seemed to do whenever he was asked a question that he didn't seem very interested in answering. “I got in trouble a lot as a kid,” he said after a moment, looking down into his glass. “I got kicked out of a few schools in the city and there were some other things going on at the time and— well, it was stressing my mom out a lot. So when my step-dad died, she just wanted a fresh start. We moved out here the summer before I started high school.”

“Do you ever miss it?” Annabeth asked, mostly because it felt like the right thing to say.

“Sometimes,” he nodded. “I like San Francisco fine but I figure I’ll move back East eventually.” 

It was quiet again for a minute, just long enough for her nerves to begin bubbling up in her chest again. Annabeth wasn’t the shy type: she considered herself to be the kind of person that was willing to make an ass of herself if necessary, preferring to have the story straight and facts in order even if she had to hurt some feelings to get there. 

Which was exactly why she was feeling so conflicted at that moment. 

On the surface, this ‘date’ would have been perfect. The restaurant was exactly the kind of place she would have chosen— quiet, not too crowded, with a great view. You couldn’t really go wrong with a waterfront sunset, after all. And even if it had been a little stilted at first, their conversation hadn’t been too uncomfortable and she really did think that Percy was at least as nice as she’d previously believed. But the confusion of how they were meant to navigate all of this hung between them and she could tell with one glance across the table that he was feeling it too. 

“I think we should lay some ground rules,” Annabeth said quietly, ignoring the nagging little hopeful part of her that was crumpling like a dying spider. 

“What do you mean?” Percy asked, matching her softened tone. 

“For this,” she gestured vaguely between them, searching for a word that would hopefully work to adequately describe their situation while not offending him. In the end she settled on, “Our... arrangement.” 

Percy sat up a little straighter at that, pressing his back against the chair and resting his hands in his lap. His eyes were clear, no sign of that mischievous glint she’d been admiring earlier in the evening. “Oh.”

At that, Annabeth felt a flash of appreciation for the t-shirt she was now wearing, knowing that the off-shoulder dress she’d originally picked out would have done virtually nothing to conceal the nervous flush that was making its way across her chest. Maybe it was stupid to feel so anxious about this conversation — after all, he’d agreed to this just as much as she had — but she was. She was worried that she was going to open her mouth and stick her foot so far down her own throat that she’d never recover. 

“I just think it would be smart for us to set some boundaries,” she continued, trying to keep the nerves out of her voice. There was no reason this conversation had to be uncomfortable. It was just good sense to get this out of the way now. “You know, for what’s going to happen over the next few months, and what we expect from each other.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What do you expect?”

“I don’t want you to make me look stupid,” Annabeth answered bluntly, letting the words flow from her tongue unencumbered. 

It was a fear she’d kept quietly tucked away in the back corner of her mind so far, but it leapt right to the front at the first opportunity. Percy was, as she’d come to admit to herself by now, obviously attractive. The fact that he wasn’t already seeing someone exclusively only served to lead her to believe that he was more interested in casual hookups than actual commitments. And while she was sure that he’d have plenty of opportunities between now and the end of the summer, the last thing she wanted was some kind of embarrassing affair gossip.

“If we’re going to pretend to be together, we can’t see other people,” she said carefully, not wanting her words to land in the wrong way. “I’m not letting them drag us out into the spotlight just so there can be some stupid scandal story about you cheating on me taking the focus off of my team two weeks before Athens.”

There was a long silence. Percy’s brow was furrowed in an expression that seemed to fall halfway between offense and disgust, his eyes a little darker than they had been before. As he stared at her, she felt that heat spread further over her chest. He nodded once but said nothing.

“Same for me, obviously,” she went on, hoping that including herself in the scenario might dissolve some of the bizarre tension that had moved in so suddenly. “I wouldn’t do that to you, either.”

“Fine,” he said flatly. “What else?”

Annabeth swallowed. She kept her eyes on him, even though she wanted nothing more than to look anywhere else. “No sex.”

He scoffed in disbelief. “Seriously?”

“What? It’s worth saying, right?” 

“Why would you assume that even needs to be said?” he asked, his tone feeling serrated and rigid. “Do you actually think that would be an issue?”

“I didn’t—" The blush was making its way to her cheeks at last. "I mean, I don’t— I just thought it would be a good idea to make that clear.”

“Trust me,” Percy scowled, “it’s clear.”

Why was he looking at her like she’d just spit in his glass and insulted his mother? Was the thought of hooking up with her really so far outside of the realm of possibility that he was disgusted by the mere implication?

“Okay,” she muttered, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes.

“How often do we need to be seen together?” he asked, his voice still sounding caged. The tendons in his neck were tight, his jaw set firmly. 

“I don’t know,” Annabeth shrugged. “Once every couple weeks, at least?” He nodded but said nothing more and she continued to stare, her lips pursed in annoyance. “What’s your deal?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t do that,” she shook her head. “We were having a good time, I thought, and now you’re all pissy.”

“I’m not pissy, Annabeth,” Percy said with a tone that made his statement sound undeniably dishonest. “We were having a good time. Then you went and decided I’m an idiot or something.”

“I—”

“First you come at me with the whole ‘you’re not allowed to cheat on me’ thing, as if I’m some kind of asshole that’s just out to make you look bad,” he spat without acknowledging her attempt to interject. “Then you go and act like I’m just trying to sleep with you. Look, I know we don’t know each other, but I’m just surprised to find out you think so little of me, that’s all.”

Whiplash would’ve hurt less than whatever had just happened. Her concern about putting her foot in her mouth very obviously had not been foolish. Awkward air hung all around them and she couldn’t do anything but continue to stare blankly at the man that had just snapped at her and completely taken her once-sure voice from her throat.

Percy took a steadying breath and some of the tension relaxed from his face and shoulders. He still appeared to be annoyed, but he definitely didn’t seem to be as upset as he’d been a few moments ago.

“Annabeth, I offered to do this with you because I know how hard these next few months are going to be and you shouldn’t have to be worried about money on top of everything else,” he said, filling in the empty space between them. “I thought I made that clear the other day, but I guess not.”

“I wasn’t—”

“You don’t know anything about me but you made all these assumptions,” Percy frowned. “Are you always so quick to judge people?”

“I’m not—”

“It definitely seemed like it,” he cut her off again. She could tell by the way his body moved that he was bouncing his leg anxiously. Percy ran a hand over his mouth as he collected his thoughts. “Look, your ‘boundaries’ are pretty assumptive, alright? That’s all I’m saying.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, maybe a little too quickly, but she was afraid that if she didn’t say it fast he’d go right into another string of rants that she’d be helpless to defend herself from. “I didn’t mean to make it sound like you’re an idiot I just…" Annabeth sighed. She looked out over the water, searching for the right thing to say. When she finally looked back across the table, Percy was watching her with an expectant expression. His eyes had softened and the tension in his jaw and shoulders had seemed to relax, but she still wasn't entirely confident that she could recover from the embarrassing tirade. "I don't know, Percy," she shrugged after a moment, crossing her arms protectively. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

It was quiet again for a moment as he stared and she stared right back— grey eyes locked onto green in a battle of determination that neither of them seemed very keen on backing away from. The softness that had returned didn't fade.

“So what?” he said finally. “You’re breaking up with me?”

She stared at him for a moment, a tiny pool of shock simmering in her chest as her jaw hung slack. About the time she had gathered enough of her wits to attempt a reply, she saw that dimple begin to find its way onto his face as the corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk. 

‘That ass,’ she thought to herself. He’d gotten her all worked up and for what? “Why are you like this?” she asked, exhaling with a hint of exasperation. 

Percy shrugged. His eyes were still a bit narrowed, a hint of the tightness in his brow, but he seemed to be trying and that was more than she could ask for after… whatever had just happened. “Listen, Annabeth; I don’t really know what we’re supposed to do here either. We should probably just play it by ear and take things as they come, you know?”

“I guess,” she mumbled, toying with her straw. “I’m just worried that this is going to be more trouble than it’s worth.”

“Well,” he sighed thoughtfully, slouching down in his chair a bit. He brought his hands back up to the table, rolling the edge of the fabric napkin between his fingers absentmindedly. “Worst case scenario, we figure out we hate each other and we only do the bare minimum that it takes to get through this, right?”

That sounded far easier said than done but she didn’t feel like getting into another argument. “Okay, then what's the best case scenario?”

“Best case scenario,” Percy sighed thoughtfully, glancing out over the water and the last glimpses of the sun before he looked back at her, “we don’t hate each other.”

A vague reply, an oversimplification of their precarious conundrum, but it would have to do. 

“Percy,” Annabeth said after mulling that over for a minute or so, “I really am sorry if it seemed like I was judging you. I wasn’t trying to imply anything. You’re right: I barely even know you.”

“Well, we have to start somewhere, right?” he mused. “What would you say to trying again?”

“I’d like that,” she nodded, eagerly accepting the olive branch he was presenting. 

His smirk returned once more as he exhaled a laugh through his nose, lifting his glass of water in a mock toast. “To not hating each other.”

Annabeth shook her head but didn’t try to hide the smile that came onto her own lips as she raised her glass to his.

At least they agreed on one thing.

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 130

“What’s your major?” Percy asked as he set the pepper shaker back into its spot at the end of the table. The mild evening breeze rustled through his hair gently as he took a bite of his sandwich and waited for her answer.

Annabeth pulled the tomato off of her burger, setting it to the side. “Architecture,” she answered simply. “Mainly civic, but I’ve taken a few classes that focus on residential work.”

“Ah,” he chuckled, glancing back toward the Bay Bridge, a smile pulling on the corner of his mouth. “That makes sense. So what do you wanna build?”

“Arenas, theaters, stadiums,” she mused, following his eyes out over the water. “Big public spaces that bring people together.”

“So, I’ll make the athletes and you’ll give ‘em somewhere to compete,” he grinned, tilting his head back toward her. 

When he smiled at her like that, so effortless and warm, it was almost enough to make it seem like their disagreement from earlier had never even happened. She found herself half-wondering if she’d imagined it altogether, unsure of how it could be possible that those green eyes looking back at her with such amusement could be the same ones that had been glaring at her only minutes before. 

After the waiter had delivered their plates to the table, Percy had proposed that they play a bit of a game. Twenty questions, he’d said, though she was fairly certain that they’d need more than twenty questions to get to know each other. It was a start, at least. And if nothing else, she was grateful that whatever had transpired before seemed to have passed. 

“Oh yeah?” Annabeth asked after she’d swallowed the bite of burger in her mouth. “What’s your major, then?”

“Biokinesiology,” he said with a bit of a shrug, “with an emphasis on sports therapy.”

“So, you want to coach,” she assumed. 

“If I’m able to, yeah,” Percy nodded. “I want to train professional swimmers mostly, but there’s not exactly a huge demand for that kind of thing so I’ll probably end up doing some personal training type work, too. Maybe work with kids that wanna swim if I find the right opportunity.”

Annabeth, who had always thought of herself as an athlete second, thought it interesting how Percy had chosen to fit his passions into his life plan. That wasn’t to say that she didn’t take her sport seriously, because of course she did— but she knew that her time on the court would soon come to an end and she would move on to the next part of her life. It was obvious that Percy, on the other hand, saw swimming as a lifelong endeavor. 

“When did you start swimming?” she asked. 

“I’ve always been a strong swimmer— it’s in my blood,” Percy explained. The latter part of his answer confused her, but he continued before she had a chance to ask for elaboration. “I was about seven or eight, I guess, when I realized I was good at it. But I didn’t actually start competing until I was in high school and sometimes I think it was a mistake.”

Annabeth tilted her head. That seemed like an odd thing to say but she noticed how the words almost seemed to be wrapped in amusement. “What do you mean?” 

“Well,” he laughed, popping the last bite of a half-eaten fry into his mouth, “I was good, and I won a lot. And I really, really like winning.”

Annabeth quirked an eyebrow. “Is that a bad thing?” 

Percy’s smile only grew wider and brighter, impossibly white teeth shining back at her. “See, this is why I like dating athletes,” he mused. “You get it.” 

For a brief moment, she opened her mouth to remind him one more time that they weren’t actually dating, but given their earlier misunderstanding, she held her tongue. ‘He knows,’ she thought to herself. ’You don’t have to tell him every three seconds’. 

She looked down at her plate, dipping a fry into the tiny plastic cup of ketchup. “So why do you think swimming was a mistake, then?”

“I was obsessed from the first meet I won,” he shook his head. “My mom couldn’t keep me out of the pool long enough to study so my grades kind of sucked. But she let it slide, mostly because practicing constantly meant that I didn’t have a lot of time to get into trouble like I did back in New York. I went to the same high school for all four years— I think we were both pretty shocked by that.”

“And you went to the games before, right?” she asked, recalling the brief bio she’d seen in the paper in Dr. Brunner’s office. 

Percy nodded. “Yep, last summer games,” he confirmed and, as if sensing her next question, continued. “A silver and two bronze.”

“Impressive,” she admitted, and it was. It might not be a gold medal, but it was still a hell of an accomplishment, especially taking into consideration that Percy had been just shy of eighteen at the time. 

“Ah,” he shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck as if he wasn’t overly interested in acknowledging the accomplishment, “I guess. I was mostly just excited to be in Rio. But I’ll show them to you sometime, if you want.”

“Sure,” she nodded, a bit surprised by his apparent resistance to talking about his medals but deciding not to press it. “I’d like that.”

Percy gave her a polite smile, one that almost made her feel like he was amused. “What do you do for fun?” he asked after a moment. “Besides volleyball, obviously.”

“Oh— well, I don’t really have time for anything else,” she shook her head. “Between school, work, and training, my days are pretty full.”

“But less so, now, right?” he suggested, raising an eyebrow. “That’s part of why we’re doing this: so you’ll have more time for yourself. So what’re you going to do with all your new freedom?”

Freedom. The word felt foreign. It’d been years since Annabeth had had more than a few hours a week to herself, and those were usually spent lazing about— because sometimes spending an entire Sunday in front of the TV with Connor was the perfect remedy for a hellacious week. But other than that, she didn’t really have an answer. She wasn’t even sure that she still had hobbies or interests outside of practices and training.

“I—” she stammered for a moment, looking down at her plate again. “I don’t really know, I guess. I haven’t really had time for ‘fun’ in a while.”

He eyed her for a moment, continuing to chew on the bite sandwich in his mouth. “Well, that’s bleak,” Percy deadpanned. 

She laughed. “I guess so.”

“We’ll find you some new hobbies, don’t worry,” he nodded. Percy set his sandwich down on his plate, wiping the palms of his hands on his jeans before he sat up a bit straighter and reached for his phone. “How do you feel about skydiving? Bungee jumping? LARPing?”

Annabeth laughed again, a little more sincerely this time. “I think I’ll pass on those for now. Maybe I’ll try reading for fun— I haven’t done that in a long time.”

“Boring,” he scoffed, jokingly. “We have to get you into something cool.”

“Well, what do you do?” she sighed, turning his own question on him. “For fun, I mean.”

“I swim.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t count and you know it.”

“I do!” he laughed. “I still swim for fun. I surf a little, too. Sometimes, if the wind’s right, I’ll take a board down to the beach. I’m not very good, though, so I don’t really do it all that often. I haven’t been out in, like, at least a year.” 

“You don’t have to be good at something to do it for fun,” she suggested, and from the look on his face, it had been the wrong thing to say. 

“Maybe that’s true for you,” he said, “but I’m not a masochist. If I suck at something, I’m not really likely to keep at it.”

“Well, how do you intend to get better at it, then?” she laughed. 

“I don’t,” Percy shrugged. “But I don’t need to be good at surfing— I’m good at other things.”

“Like what?”

He blanched slightly, like he’d been hoping she wouldn’t actually expect an explanation. A hand rose to scratch his neck. When he finally spoke, his voice was a murmur. “I mean, I’m pretty good at baking.”

“Sorry,” she teased, trying to keep her amusement contained. “I don’t think I heard you right— it almost sounded like you just said baking.”

It was Percy’s turn to roll his eyes. “My mom owns a bakery, alright? I’ve picked up a few things over the years.”

“Maybe you can bring cupcakes to the next meet and slow down your opponents,” Annabeth offered. “Oh! Or you can just bring a bunch of baguettes to woo the judges.”

He took another bite of his burger, eyes locked onto hers as he chewed. “You’re mean.” 

“A little.”

With the ice broken, the conversation moved on steadily, each of them taking turns asking questions whenever they seemed to reach a silence. She learned that his favorite color was blue and that he’d once gotten kicked out of a school for accidentally starting a fire in the locker room. He claimed there was a good explanation but she wasn’t entirely sure she believed him. But, being friends with Connor for nearly a decade had pretty well desensitized her to most of the moronic things that teenage boys got into.

He was an only child, something they had in common, and was extremely close to his mom, something that they did not. When the conversation had begun to drift toward family, she felt that almost-forgotten knot in her stomach begin to twist again. Her attempts at blocking the topic managed to stave off his questions for a while, but were ultimately in vain.

“What about you?” he asked after he’d told her a little about his mom. Their plates had long been cleared and the sun was well past being set, with hardly any light at all still visible on the lowest part of the sky. “What’re your folks like?”

“My mom’s gone,” Annabeth said quickly. She liked to rip that Band-Aid off as quickly as possible and get the sympathetic looks over with. Thankfully, Percy didn’t seem too intent on lingering on the topic. “She left when I was really little. I don’t really even remember her all that much. And my dad and I aren’t very close.” 

“Does he live in California?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, her fingers toying anxiously with the zipper on her jacket. “He’s still in San Francisco, actually.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Percy said with a frown. “Do you fight a lot or something?”

Annabeth bit her lip. They didn’t fight much these days, not really— but that was only because they didn’t speak much these days. The last time that she’d spoken to him had been more than a month ago, and even that had only been a perfunctory, two-and-a-half minute phone call in acknowledgement of his birthday. She rarely heard from him, and heard even less from her step-mother. But that answer was complicated and not something she felt especially eager to share. So, instead, she answered simply. “Not exactly.”

Percy’s eyes wandered over her face for a few seconds, seeming to gather that she wasn’t entirely comfortable talking about her family. “My dad sucks, too.”

Annabeth eyed him, trying to decide if she should ask him about his father or not. It was personal, and she definitely understood not wanting to share your life story with a near-stranger. Yet, it felt like an opening— so she took it. “Is he still in New York?” 

“No,” Percy scoffed mirthfully, amused by her question. “He lives in Greece.”

“Greece?” Her eyes widened in surprise. 

“Yeah, he’s uh, he’s from Mykonos,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck again. “He came to the States as an exchange student— that’s how he met my mom. They were both seventeen. And then, she found out she was pregnant and… yeah.” 

A few things made sense, suddenly: why Sally seemed so young to have an adult son, why Percy had his mother’s last name. She also felt safe in assuming that the bright green eyes and deep olive skin that suited him so well could likely be attributed to his father’s genes. Sally was softer, warmer— and, beautiful as she was, there was something almost otherworldly about the way Percy’s features had combined that Annabeth felt must have come from his paternal side.

“He just… left?” Annabeth asked, unable to swallow back her curiosity. 

“When I was growing up, my mom used to tell me that he was a fisherman and he’d had to leave on a boat and couldn’t come back,” Percy said, looking at his hands as they rested on the table. It wasn’t exactly an answer but she’d take whatever he was willing to share. “Then when I got older, she told me the truth: my dad comes from this big, wealthy family that has a lot of local influence, and getting some broke American girl knocked up and not marrying her would’ve been a pretty big hit on their rep. So they kept it quiet and he went home.”

He looked like he had more to say but was having trouble finding the right words. She sat quietly, giving him whatever space he needed. 

“He sent money, at least. But he never wanted anything to do with me— until he found out I was swimming, anyway,” Percy said, with none of the amusement from before. “Suddenly he wanted to pay for my training and he even tried to get my mom to send me to this private school in Nevada because the coach had worked with Team USA in the past, but she didn’t want to move me again. I didn’t actually meet him until I’d qualified for the Olympics last time. I guess I’d finally earned his attention.”

“Why was he so interested in your swimming? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I don’t mind,” he shrugged. “After I won a couple medals, he decided to actually claim me, so I guess it’s not really a secret anymore. But my dad’s got, like, twenty-something medals of his own, so I figure he thinks I’m carrying his legacy or something. Doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t have time for me until he decided that I was good for his ego.”

“So he just ignored you for most of your life?” Annabeth asked, feeling a pang of sympathy for Percy, despite the fact that he seemed to be pretty well at peace with what he was telling her, even if a bit angry.

“It’s whatever,” Percy said with another half-hearted shrug, and he actually looked like he meant it. “He pays for my apartment, tuition, training— pretty much whatever I need to be able to focus on swimming as much as possible. And he helped my mom with the money she needed to open the bakery a few years back. It doesn’t change the fact that he’s a selfish asshole, but if he wants to throw money at me, I’m not going to stop him.”

“Seems like the least he could do,” Annabeth scoffed. “I’m sorry, Percy. That really sucks.”

His eyes darted up to her face and for a moment she worried that offering him condolences had somehow offended him. She’d understand if she had— she wasn’t one for pity either.

“Thanks,” he said after another silent minute, and the sincerity in his tone surprised her. “It’s nice to have someone say that.”

“What? ‘Sorry’?” Annabeth asked, tilting her head slightly. 

“No,” he laughed. “That it sucks— because it does, and most of the time people try to make me feel better about it. And you didn’t.”

“I know a thing or two about sucky dads,” she smiled softly. 

He met her smile with a genuine appreciation and she felt every ounce of the gratitude behind it. “Well, we got the hard stuff out of the way, at least,” Percy joked. “Should be smooth sailing from here, huh?”

“I just can’t believe I actually got through a ‘first date’,” she said, using air quotes around the words, “without having to talk about exes for once.”

“Oh, I’m just saving that for date number two,” he said matter-of-factly. “If you think I’m not interested in the skeletons in your closet, you’re sorely mistaken.”

She brushed it off with a laugh as he nodded toward the door and they both rose to their feet. When they reached the counter where a woman was waiting behind a register, Annabeth was already reaching for her wallet. Percy touched her arm lightly, shaking his head. 

“No, really. I insist,” she protested. “Seriously. This wasn’t even—”

“Hey,” Percy interrupted, holding a thick, black credit card between his fingers. “Let my dad buy your dinner and stop fussing.”

She couldn't help but laugh at that, rolling her eyes as Percy paid the check and gestured toward the door. “I think you enjoyed that a little too much,” she said as they crossed the street to his bike.

“I enjoy spending my dad’s guilt-money,” he admitted with a grin. “I’m not going to apologize for that.”

“You shouldn’t,” she agreed after considering it for a moment. “I’d probably do the same thing if I were in your shoes.”

Percy laughed as he pulled out the helmet and handed it to her again. He double-checked the strap on her chin for her before he raised the kickstand and started the engine. She slid her arms around his waist automatically, far less nervous this time.

“You got an early bedtime, Diner Girl?” he asked over his shoulder as they started slowly up the street. 

“What?”

“Do you have to be home soon?” Percy laughed. “Or can I keep you for another hour or so?”

Annabeth hesitated. “Um,” she said as she thought about her answer for a moment. “Why?”

“Do you trust me?”

“No,” she answered automatically, surprising even herself. “I mean—”

“Fair enough,” he shrugged, laughing a bit. He didn’t sound too disappointed. “Don’t sweat it. Another time.” 

They rode in silence for a while, and Annabeth hoped that the noise of the engine was enough of an excuse to explain away her lack of response. Twenty minutes later, Percy came to a stop on the street in front of her building. He let the engine idle while he planted his feet firmly on either side of the motorcycle as Annabeth dismounted, taking the helmet from her after she’d pulled herself free.

She watched as he put the helmet onto his own head, adjusting the chin strap for himself. Her curiosity was bubbling up again. “So,” she began, thoughtfully, “where was it that you wanted to go?”

“Guess you’ll have to wait to find out next time.” His expression was hidden behind the face shield but she could hear the smile in his voice anyway. “‘Night, Diner Girl.”

-

12:11 AM - CONNOR:
What the hell Chase??

12:14 AM - CONNOR:
HELLO????????

12:17 AM - CONNOR:
I’m going to uber to your
apt & beat on the door
until u let me in

12:21 AM - CONNOR:
final warning, I’m putting
on pants

12:22 AM - ANNABETH:
Omg I was in the
shower, calm down.
Wtf is your deal??

12:22 AM - CONNOR:
[1 Attachment]

She tapped the attachment, opening the screenshot as her breath caught in her throat. 

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 130

She tapped the phone icon next to his contact photo. It barely even rang before Connor answered. “Explain. Fifty words or less.”

“Connor—”

“Forty-nine,” he chided. “Don’t waste your words, Chase.”

“It’s not what it looks like,” Annabeth sighed, rubbing her forehead as she walked over to her bed and plopped down against the mattress. 

“Really? Because it definitely looks like you went on a date and didn’t tell me,” Connor said, his voice rising half an octave toward the end. “Me, Chase; your best friend!” 

“I’m going to murder him for posting that,” she groaned, rolling onto her side.

Connor sighed. “Okay, so… if it’s ‘not what it looks like’, what is it?”

“It’s complicated,” she said, “and I’m not really supposed to talk about it.”

“Sounds totally normal.”

“I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“Right, like that’s ever stopped us before,” he scoffed, and she could almost hear him rolling his eyes through the phone. “I’m the exception to the rule, right?”

Annabeth hesitated. Dr. Brunner had seemed pretty serious when he’d said that no one could know about the arrangement between herself and Percy and the University, but it’s not like she’d signed a contract or anything. The only reason that she’d taken the oath seriously in the first place was the fear that if she didn’t agree, she might lose her chance at that much-needed scholarship. 

But six months was a really long time to try and lie to Connor, especially when she was already so used to telling him everything. They’d been best friends since they were kids— it was practically against her nature to keep things from him.

“I’ll explain everything, but you have to promise that you won’t tell anyone, Connor,” she said after thinking about it for a few moments. “Not even Travis.”

“Seriously?” he asked, his tone sounding somewhat concerned— although, it was probably reasonable that telling Connor that he couldn’t even talk to his brother about what she was going to say probably did raise a few alarm bells in his mind. “Annabeth, is this, like— you’re not in some kind of trouble, are you?”

“No, it’s not like that,” she answered, shaking her head despite the fact that he wouldn’t be able to see it. “But I’m serious— you can’t tell anyone, alright?”

“I guess so,” he said, cautiously. 

“We did technically go on a date tonight—”

“I knew it,” Connor said triumphantly. “Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”

“Will you let me finish?” Annabeth sighed, exasperated. “It wasn’t real.” 

There was a short silence, the gears in Connor’s head turning. “I don’t get it.”

Annabeth heard another voice through the phone, a little distant. “Dude, did you see that post Annabeth was tagged in?” When Connor didn’t answer, the voice continued. “Is that her on the phone? Ask her if she can get me an autograph—”

“Would you get out?” Connor sighed. She heard the sounds of a brief exchange, maybe a little bit of a scuffle before the door closed roughly. “Sorry. Travis.”

“I didn’t realize he was such a big fan of swimming.”

“He’s not,” he answered. “He probably just wants to sell it online or something.”

“Mm, yeah, that tracks,” she said with a laugh. Travis had all of Connor’s knack for mischief with about half as much common sense. “Either way, I’m not getting it for him.” 

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Connor sighed. There was a short huff and she could picture him flopping down onto the massive bean bag chair he insisted on keeping, regardless of how stupidly ugly it was. “Alright, I’m listening.”

For what it was worth, she tried her best. Connor sat in silence as Annabeth explained the situation in a hushed voice, hoping that her roommates had already gone to bed and she wouldn’t be overheard. He didn’t say anything until she had finished recounting the details of what had transpired that day in the Dean’s office. 

“So,” he said slowly after a moment, “the school asked you to do this to try and capitalize on your media attention.”

“Right.”

“But why fake a whole relationship?” he wondered. “Why wouldn’t they just ask you both to talk up the school or whatever?”

“We don’t totally get it either. I guess the idea is that we’ll attract more interest organically as a couple— you know, like, two young athletes just trying to get to the Olympics together,” she tried to explain for the third time. “And then when people are hooked into the whole relationship schtick, we use the attention to try and make the school look good. It probably would’ve worked without us pretending to date, but Dr. Brunner thinks that we’ll get more buzz this way.”

“Well,” Connor sighed, “I think he was right about that. You checked Instagram lately?”

Annabeth pulled the phone away from her ear, setting the call to speakerphone as she navigated to the app. Her jaw hung slack as her eyes drifted to the sheer number of notifications she’d received in the past half-hour. She’d gotten nearly a hundred new followers and already been tagged in two different posts made by some sort of fan accounts that were re-sharing Percy’s original photo. 

“Oh, God,” she whined, seeing that the number of likes and comments on the original post had nearly doubled since Connor had taken the screenshot. “I’m actually going to kill him.”

“Set your shit to private, Chase,” Connor suggested, “unless you want that attention on you. Percy’s verified— he’s got a lot of followers.”

“Good idea,” she muttered, already navigating quickly to update her settings. 

“Alright,” he said, sounding a little hesitant. “Listen, try not to sweat this too much. Turn your phone off and get some sleep. I’ll try to swing by the diner in the morning.”

“Connor,” she blurted quickly. “Do you think I made a mistake?”

He was silent for too long. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” 

-

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 129

If there had been any doubt in Annabeth Chase’s mind about whether or not she ever wanted to be in the spotlight, it was completely dissolved by noon the next day. She’d never been so thankful for a busy shift, using it as a distraction to the influx of notifications she’d received since Percy had shared that photo the night before. She’d tried to call him on her break but he didn’t answer, which was probably for the best— she was probably a little too upset to try and be civil at the moment.

By the time she’d clocked out and made her way onto campus for her only class of the day, she was exhausted. She’d been mildly concerned about the potential fallout she might run into, but was pleasantly surprised to see that no one in her class seemed to be aware of the way her personal life had suddenly become a hot topic within the niche, online community that followed professional swimmers. That was a relief, at least. 

The online-sphere had not been nearly as blasé. Connor had told her not to read any of the private messages that she’d received the night before, but she couldn’t help it. Curiosity won out in the end and she’d spent the majority of her drafting seminar doomscrolling through her inbox. The messages varied wildly from mostly innocent inquiries asking for some kind of confirmation that she really was dating Percy, to full-on hate mail. 

Leaving the FIVB hadn’t made her very popular and she knew that. She’d faced plenty of backlash from people that thought she was undeserving of this second chance, and she’d become fairly used to having people tell her that she was a disappointment. What she hadn’t prepared for was the sheer amount of anger that apparently accompanied being the girlfriend of a successful and attractive swimmer.

Percy’s fans were ruthless. There were the younger fans, largely just high school and college-aged girls that seemed mostly to be projecting some sort of parasocial jealousy with their rude and judgmental messages. Those were easy enough to brush off— they weren’t fine by any means, and the comments about her appearance were hurtful to say the least, but Annabeth understood how stupid it was. And even though some of those words bounced around her head all morning, she’d been mostly able to push away the strange feeling that those messages had given her.

The older audience, on the other hand, was harder to ignore. Percy’s first appearance at the games had earned him a coveted place in the sun as far as swimming enthusiasts were concerned. To hear them talk, Percy was apparently America’s golden boy and ‘fraternizing’ (as they had so delicately put it) with someone like Annabeth, who clearly ‘didn’t take her sport seriously’, was not a good look. Some of the messages accused her of capitalizing on Percy’s success to try and make herself look better to the Olympic committee, others had warned her that she was ‘going to be sorry’ if she distracted Percy during the remainder of the season. 

Without having to look very hard, Annabeth had found multiple forums that were dedicated solely to following prospective Olympic swimmers and had been mostly horrified by what she found there. Comments about her lack of determination and what it could mean for Percy; musings about her past failures and how little she seemed to care about giving up such a big opportunity, and wasn’t that a dangerous attitude for Percy Jackson to be around? 

By the time the lecture came to an end, Annabeth felt nauseous. She should’ve listened to Connor and tried to avoid it but she hadn’t, and now she wondered how she was possibly going to be able to forget the things that she’d read. She found herself half-stomping her way out of the building as she made her way to her car. She was so lost in her own mind that she didn’t notice the person leaning against her driver-side door until it was too late.

“Annabeth—”

“Don’t,” she sneered. “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

“Please,” Percy said, raising his hands. “Just two minutes.”

“You know, I tried to call you a couple hours ago,” Annabeth said, coming to a stop a few feet away. “What? Didn’t want to talk then?”

“I was in the pool,” he explained, “and I didn’t see that you’d called until about twenty minutes ago so I just came straight here to talk in person.”

“Well, now I have to get to practice, Percy,” Annabeth said, her knuckles white on the straps of her backpack as she fought to keep her tone even, “so please get out of my way.”

He stared back for only a few seconds before he sighed and stepped away from the door. “Can I call you later? I just want to—”

She took a step forward, turning her back to him as she fumbled with her keys in the finicky lock. “You can try. I’m not promising that I’ll answer.”

“Annabeth,” Percy said, sounding a bit defeated as he reached out to touch her arm.

“Can you not?” she snapped, jerking away from him. “You don’t have any idea what the past fifteen hours have been like for me.”

“I just thought—”

“No, you didn’t. You weren’t thinking, Percy,” she scowled, finally managing to get the door unlocked. Annabeth looked over at him, pleased to see that he at least had the decency to look guilty. “You shouldn’t have done that without talking to me first.”

He stared back at her and she was frozen in place, one hand on the door handle and the other at her side. Beneath the gaze of those intense green eyes, she almost felt as though she had no choice but to wait for his reply. “I didn’t think it would matter since it’s all fake,” he said after a moment of silence. “I didn’t know it would upset you so much.”

Her eyelids fell closed as realization settled over her. He didn’t understand her reaction because he didn’t know why she was mad in the first place. She shook her head, pulling back from the door handle as she dug her phone out of her back pocket and unlocked the screen.

“Fourteen-hundred new follower requests,” she said, not glancing up as she continued to scroll. “Not to mention the tags I’ve gotten on other posts. And, God— you should see some of the DMs I got before I switched my account to private.”

She held her phone out to him, her jaw clenched tightly as he cautiously took the device from her hands. His eyes roved over the screen, his brow furrowing more and more with each scroll of his thumb. “Annabeth, I—”

“Didn’t think,” she said dryly, finishing his sentence for him. She held out her palm. “I need to go.”

Percy glanced back at the phone in his hand for a moment and she knew that the redness in his face was well-deserved. The messages were the worst part. Generic insults about her appearance were one thing (hurtful, but she could stomach it), but then there were all those messages that had insulted her ability as an athlete— and worse, the ones that mocked her for her past failures. Maybe it hadn’t been his intent to bring any sort of backlash onto her, but he had. 

Maybe the general public or the average student didn’t seem especially concerned with his social life, but there was a reasonably large population in those obscure corners of the internet that was incredibly invested. She thought about all of those nasty words that she’d read during class: from men that followed the sport who were accusing her of being a washed-up has-been that would distract Percy and drag him down; from women that followed him and sent hateful messages, empty threats, and envy-fueled declarations that she wasn’t good enough to be with someone like Percy. 

And the truth was that she’d been through worse, much worse. 

Walking away less than a week before a championship tournament and costing your teammate a trip to the Olympics earned you a lot of hate, and she’d survived that even while she was piecing herself back together in the wake of her own world imploding. She was younger then, fragile and scared, and she’d survived. 

The fact of the matter was that she knew all too well that she could handle herself under whatever persecution Percy’s loyal followers decided to put her through— if she’d been prepared. That one, stupid picture had launched a full blown attack on Annabeth, and since she hadn’t even known that he was planning to share it, she hadn’t even had a chance to brace herself for it. 

Percy slowly laid the phone back into her hand, embarrassment clear in every inch of his face. “I understand.”

“Good,” she said, opening the car door and tossing her backpack over to the passenger seat. “Glad we cleared that up.” Annabeth dropped down into the driver seat but when she moved to pull the door closed, she was met with resistance. She looked up to see a hand gripping the top of the doorframe, dark eyes staring down into the car.

“Listen, I don’t want you to talk if you’re not ready,” Percy said after a few heavy seconds had passed between them, “but I’m going to call you tonight, and I’d really like it if you’d answer. I want to apologize, but you’re right— you deserve to be angry for a while.”

His words, carefully chosen and maybe even a bit repentant, felt like a fifty pound weight had just been dropped in her lap. Words failed but she maintained her glare, watching as he finally released the door and stepped away from the car. Annabeth slammed the door and drove away, watching his shoulders fall in her rearview mirror.

-

“Alright, cupcakes,” Hedge called, tossing the last of the volleyballs back into the cart. “Start on your cooldown and hit the showers. Good practice today.”

There’d been a tiny tinge of fear in Annabeth’s gut, if she were being honest, about going to the gym that afternoon. Maybe people in her normal life weren’t up to date with the goings-on of former and would-be Olympians, but the trainers that frequented the Aegis certainly were. If anyone was likely to know about what had happened the night before, it would be someone from the gym. 

Someone like Hedge. Someone like Piper.

Thankfully, the universe had decided to grant her some small kindness, and neither of them seemed to be the wiser. Practice had gone by uneventfully, minus one pretty gnarly face plant after tripping over her own feet trying to run down a ball Piper hadn’t quite had control over. Still, she was grateful for both an easy distraction and an outlet for some of her frustration.

“How are you liking your new schedule?” Piper asked, toweling her hair as they stood in the locker room twenty minutes later. “You look great— like you’ve actually been sleeping.”

Annabeth laughed at Piper’s more-than-fair assessment. “I’m enjoying it,” she nodded as she turned away from her locker and continued to rub in the lotion on her arms to soothe some of the irritation from falling again and again in the coarse sand. “It’s nice not to be working quite so much.”

“So what happened? You just got sick of it?”

“I, um— I had another scholarship pull through,” Annabeth answered, offering the half-truth as an explanation. She turned back toward the open locker, hoping Piper wouldn’t notice the hesitation. “It’s enough to cover the rest of my tuition and most of my housing, so I was able to quit working at the coffee shop and switch to the morning shift at the diner.”

“So,” Piper mused, something a little mysterious flitting through her expression briefly, “your evenings are free, then?” 

“Um, yeah, I guess so,” Annabeth nodded after a moment. “Most of the time, anyway.” 

‘When I’m not on fake dates with my fake boyfriend,’ she thought to herself, sighing at the reminder. 

“Cool,” Piper said, catching Annabeth’s eye in the mirror. Her gaze drifted away after a moment as she hung her towel over the door to her own locker and began to pull a brush through her long, dark hair. “We should hang out sometime. You know, outside of practice.”

Annabeth felt it again, the little prick of heat that rose on her neck whenever she caught herself staring at Piper for a moment too long. “Sure,” she said, trying to swallow back the nervousness playing in her chest. “That could be fun.”

“I was just thinking that, you know, even though we spend so much time together, I feel like I don’t really know you,” Piper said, continuing to bait the butterflies in Annabeth’s stomach. Surely she had no idea what she was doing. “And I think that we should get to know each other a little better.” 

Annabeth’s eyes went back to the mirror, realizing that Piper’s warm, brown eyes were alight with a sort of excitement that she didn’t recognize. She closed the locker quickly, turning around. “What?” she laughed, trying to play off the strange new tension in the air as some kind of joke. “You don’t think we spend enough time together to call each other friends?” 

“Maybe so. Maybe I just want to know you better,” Piper smiled softly before she turned her back to Annabeth, replacing her brush in the locker. She was still for a moment before she glanced over her shoulder. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No,” Annabeth said, feeling her cheeks warming as she tugged the zipper on her duffle bag. “No, I don’t think that would be a bad thing.”

Only it would be a bad thing, wouldn't it? Now was certainly not the time to be getting into something new and complicated with Piper. But the mere implication that Piper might want something more from their partnership than just her skill on the court was thrilling in a way that Annabeth hadn’t felt in a long time. She’d harbored a quiet, stubborn crush for nearly two years, always fighting against it because she never trusted that it could ever be requited. 

She fought back the anxiety. It wouldn't do anyone any good to stress herself out about something that would probably never happen anyway.

Piper looked her over, head to toe, before she turned her attention back to her locker. Annabeth pulled her bag onto her shoulder and started toward the door. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Yeah,” Piper nodded, shooting another blinding smile at Annabeth. “See you.”

Her neck was still warm as she made her way out of the locker room, signing out at the front desk before she continued out into the breezy early evening air. She was halfway across the parking lot when her phone chimed, and she was relieved to see that it was only Connor.

5:19 PM - CONNOR:
Ordering pizza, u in?

5:20 PM - ANNABETH:
Sure. Leaving Aegis now,
be there in twenty.

-

When she arrived at the apartment, she was pleasantly surprised by the state of things. It was always hit or miss— half the time the place looked hardly inhabitable, and other times you’d never know that three twenty-something guys shared the small space. It was only a two bedroom, despite there being three people living there. They’d managed to cram a set of bunk-beds into one of the bedrooms and a queen-sized mattress in the other (along with Connor’s beloved bean bag chair), and to be perfectly honest, Annabeth still wasn’t entirely sure who slept where. Their arrangement was ridiculous to her but it worked for them, and she was just thankful that Connor was usually fine with hanging out at her apartment.

Connor set the two boxes on the coffee table (the generous label that she begrudgingly allowed the guys to apply to the inch-thick piece of unfinished plywood balanced on four cinder blocks) before he stepped back into the kitchen. “You want a beer?”

“Sure,” she called back, opening the boxes to examine the pizzas as she heard the two bottle tops being pried off of in the next room. “Bring napkins, too.”

“Do I look like a neanderthal?” Connor asked, walking into the living room with a beer in each hand and a roll of paper towels tucked in the crook of his elbow. “I know how to impress a lady.”

“Oh yeah. Beer and pizza, you’re a real charmer, Stoll,” she laughed, closing her hand around the cold bottle he held out to her before he joined her on the couch. 

“How’re you feeling?” Connor asked, tearing off a few paper towels and handing one to her. “Have you talked to Percy?”

Annabeth sighed, grabbing for a slice that appeared to have a few more olives than the others. “Sort of. He was waiting by my car after class.”

“Really?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Bold.”

“I guess. He wanted to talk but—” she just shook her head, taking a bite as she rolled her eyes. “I’m just so aggravated, you know?”

“Sure,” Connor nodded, reaching for a slice of the pepperoni and sausage covered pizza. 

Annabeth had sent screenshots of a few of the more heinous messages to Connor earlier in the day and given him a basic rundown of her newfound ‘fame’. He was doing a pretty good job of pretending to not be too bothered by it (for her sake), but she could still see through it. Connor had been there the first time and remembered the fallout almost as clearly as she did. He’d felt so helpless back then, and she could tell that some of those same feelings were beginning to stir again.

“It was stupid not to at least give you a heads up,” he added after a moment. “He should have known that this was going to come back on you.”

“I don’t think he realized what would happen,” Annabeth admitted, even though she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to acknowledge that maybe he really hadn’t been acting maliciously— she wanted to stew a little longer. “I showed him the messages.”

Connor choked a little, pulling the bottle away from his lips as he cleared his throat. “You did?” he asked once he’d regained his composure. 

“He needed to know why I was so mad, Connor,” she explained. “I think he thought I was just pissed he posted a picture of me without permission. Like, he seemed genuinely surprised when I told him about all the— I don’t know,” she waved a hand, searching for the right word, “backlash, I guess.”

“No way,” Connor shook his head before he took another sip of his beer. “I mean, come on— maybe he’s not, like, an A-lister or anything, but he’s a semi-well-known athlete, at least with other swimmers and the people that keep up with that kind of stuff. He had to realize he was putting a target on your back, right?”

“If he did, he’s a good liar,” Annabeth muttered. “I’m just worried that they’re gonna want me to make my accounts public again.”

“Are you worried about that,” Connor said slowly after a moment, “or are you worried that it’s going to be like it was last time?”

Last time. He made it sound like it was nothing— but it hadn’t been nothing. It’d been life-changing, world-altering. Not only had the rose-colored lenses been ripped away from her eyes, but thousands of people had blamed her for something she couldn’t control, and she hadn’t even been able to explain herself. 

The only thing that had stayed constant back then was Connor. If she hadn’t had him to lean on, it might’ve been an even uglier situation. But Connor had helped her through it— had reminded her time and time again that the opinions of people that didn’t know her didn’t matter. Unfortunately, that did very little to ease the burn of her father’s disappointment, but he was resilient anyway. He pushed her every day to move forward and eventually, he even helped her get back to the sport that she’d loved so much before everything had fallen apart.

“It can’t be that bad,” Annabeth shook her head. “Nothing can be that bad.”

“Well, good,” Connor said after a moment, reaching for the remote to turn up the television. He’d tried to make his tone lighter but the sound was still tight in his throat, a forced mask of calm. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “If it gets to be that bad, you’ll tell me though, right?”

Connor was and always had been the anchor she clung to when storms blew in. So she knew that when he looked at her with that much concern in his blue eyes, carefully peeling back the scab on an old wound, that he was only doing it out of love. She gave him a small smile. “Of course I will.”

If nothing else, the movie was a pretty solid distraction. For two hours, Connor kept her laughing and kept her mind off of the mindless drama unfolding on the other side of her phone screen. But those sorts of highs never last long enough. She was placing the combined leftovers into the refrigerator when her phone rang. 

“Who is it?”

“Uh,” Connor said. She could see him holding up the blanket, shaking it until her phone flopped out onto the couch cushion. “Oh, fuck.”

“What?” Annabeth asked, closing the door of the fridge and staring out toward the living room. 

“It’s Percy.”

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 129

“Hello?”

There was a sigh. “Hey,” Percy said, sounding relieved. “Thanks for answering.”

“Sure,” she muttered, sliding the patio door closed and stepping out onto the balcony.

There was a beat of silence. “Can I come over?”

“Now?” she balked, mostly surprised by his boldness. “To my apartment?”

“Well, yeah,” Percy said slowly. “I just… Annabeth, I owe you an apology.”

“I’m not at home,” Annabeth explained. She didn’t try to tell him that he didn’t owe her an apology— they both knew better than that. 

“Where are you?” 

Annabeth resisted the knee-jerk reaction to tell him that it wasn’t any of his business. “I’m at a friend’s place, out near Richmond.”

“Oh,” he said simply, sounding a little defeated. “Well… did you drive? Could I meet you somewhere on your way home?”

“I don’t know, Percy,” Annabeth said, her voice a little quiet as she leaned her elbows onto the balcony railing. “It’s getting late and I have to be up early for work.”

“I just need five minutes, Chase,” he said gently. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot if you want.”

No one could say Percy Jackson wasn’t persistent. She wanted to keep protesting but she got the feeling it would be in vain. She was still debating when he hit her with his hardest punch yet:

“Please.”

Annabeth sighed. “Fine. I’ll meet you at my apartment in half an hour.”

“I’ll be there,” he said quickly. “Thank you.”

She ended the call without much in the way of a reply. Annabeth stayed there for a moment, pressing the cold rectangle of her cell phone against her forehead in frustration. After another minute, she pushed away from the railing and turned back toward the apartment where Connor was perched on the edge of the couch, his eyes glued to where she was standing on the balcony. She slid the door open and stepped inside, sliding her phone into her back pocket. 

“Everything okay?” he asked, a hint of that same worry in his eyes. 

“Yeah,” she nodded, rubbing her forehead. “Yeah, I’m going to go talk to him.”

“You want me to come with you?” 

“I’ll be fine; he’s meeting me at my building so I’ll just go upstairs if it gets ugly,” Annabeth assured him, laughing it off in an attempt to ease some of his concern. “Seriously, Connor; I’ll be okay.”

He watched her for another second before he seemed to decide that he believed her. “Alright, well, you call me if you need anything.”

“Of course,” she said, giving him a small smile as she stepped toward the counter, grabbing her keys. “I’ll text you when he leaves.”

“Sounds good, Chase,” Connor nodded, sinking back against the couch. “Be careful getting back.”

“I will,” Annabeth said as she stepped out into the hall. “Goodnight.”

“‘Night.”

Annabeth fumed the entire drive home. She turned the radio off, rolling down her window as she navigated through the narrow neighborhood streets between Connor’s apartment and her own, trying to think of what she would say when she saw him. Fortunately for him, her anger had been quelled for the most part. Connor had done a good job of making her feel a little validated in being upset with Percy, which had helped her stomach the feeling and had made her feel a lot more at ease. 

She was still annoyed that he’d posted the photo without her permission, especially now that she’d suffered through a small portion of the consequences. More than that, she was beginning to wonder if she was really in over her head with this whole ordeal. They’d only been at this for a few days and she was already having to deal with the negative repercussions— what would the next six months look like?

The streets were reasonably calm as she made her way back to Parkside, pulling into her parking spot and grabbing her backpack and duffel bag from the floorboard. When she opened the door to get out of the car, her ears were met with the rumble of a motorcycle engine that was slowly growing louder. She set her bags on top of the trunk, leaning against the back of the car as she waited. 

Percy pulled into the lot and paused. She turned on the flashlight on her phone, flashing it in his direction until the bike revved again and started to make its way toward her. He came to a stop a few feet away, shutting off the engine and lowering the kickstand before he pulled the helmet from his head. He balanced it on his thigh, arms resting on the top as he looked her over with a frown. 

The sounds of the neighborhood worked to fill the silence as they continued to stare at each other. Percy looked tired, like he’d been beating himself up all afternoon, and (even if she would’ve been ashamed to admit it) she found herself really hoping that he had. He seemed to be a little hesitant, unsure of what to say, but she’d be damned if she was going to be the one to speak first. 

“You were right,” he said at last. “I didn’t think. I didn’t think about what this might do to you, and I’m sorry. I never meant for it to go like this. I just… I stopped looking at that kind of stuff so long ago that I guess I didn’t consider what might happen.”

“What do you mean?” Annabeth asked after considering his words. “Stopped looking at what stuff?”

“Comments, messages, and all that,” he shook his head. “I get them too. I still see a few of the comments sometimes, but I haven’t read any of my messages in years. No one I actually know ever tries to reach out to me on social media anyway.”

It made sense, really, that Percy would get those same kinds of messages. She barely even used social media — there were very few photos of her out there in the first place — but people had been quick to dig up what they could and call her all sorts of things, before and now. She could only imagine what sort of filthy comments and unhinged ramblings lurked within his inbox.

“But I should’ve asked before I posted the picture,” Percy said, not waiting for a reply. “You didn’t deserve to be blindsided like that. I really am sorry, Annabeth. I would never drag you down like that on purpose.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, “alright, whatever. You’re sorry. That still doesn’t change anything.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Annabeth looked down at her feet, crossing her arms over her torso. She wasn’t sure how to answer. The truth was simple: she was angry, and that anger made her feel hungry for some sort of restitution. But what did that look like? What could he do that would change any of this?

She raised her eyes again, freezing when they reached the helmet that he was holding on this leg. Her brow furrowed. “What’d you do to your hands?”

Percy looked down suddenly, as if he hadn’t been aware of the dark splotches that stretched over the tops of his knuckles, peppered with a couple spots of broken, red skin. He flexed his fingers, adjusting his grip on the helmet to try and move his hands out of her direct sight. “Nothing,” he assured her, shaking his head, “just a little red.”

She raised an eyebrow. “From what? You gonna tell me you got those bruises from baking?”

He exhaled in a bit of a scoff, letting his eyes roam out toward the street. “I don’t make a habit of lying.”

“So what happened, then?” Annabeth asked. Her frustration from the moments before had been mostly replaced with confusion, curiosity, and maybe even a little bit of concern. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” he said automatically, bringing his eyes back to her. “And even if I weren’t, that’s not why I’m here.”

“Percy,” Annabeth sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Look, it’s out there now, alright? There’s nothing you can do about that. But if we’re going to do this, I really need you to be more conscientious about this stuff. I’ve got… there’s just a lot of stuff that’s happened before that I’d like to avoid repeating.”

He nodded, looking back toward the pavement, his eyes not focusing on anything in particular.

She watched his jaw tighten and relax, his lips pressing into a thoughtful line on his face. Not for the first time, she caught herself thinking about the stern set of his chin and those high cheekbones that complimented his countenance so well. If that weren’t enough, the artistry of his face was framed by a strong brow that rested above deep ocean eyes— eyes that flickered in her direction even as she found herself staring, piercing through her with an intensity that was very nearly palpable. 

The universe, she knew, was cruel. But to place such a thing in her path, knowing that she would be unable to do anything about it, was a new sort of torture. She was still basking in his presence when he spoke at last. 

“Thank you, again, for agreeing to meet up with me,” he said, his voice softer than before. Percy looked at her with pleading eyes, his expression so wholly remorseful that she nearly forgot that she’d ever been mad at all. “I don’t expect you to forgive me tonight, but I hope that you will eventually. And I really am sorry— I’ll be sure to run things by you from now on.”

Annabeth frowned. “It’s okay,” she found herself saying before she could even really think about the words and what they meant. “I mean, it’s not — but we should just try to move on.”

The leather seat of the motorcycle creaked as he moved to sit up a little straighter, tilting his head to either side to stretch his neck. When he looked back at her, his mouth opening and then closing again, the silence felt too thick to stand. There was something building that scared her, a tightening in her chest that she hadn’t known in a long time— the feeling of being seen, and maybe even known. 

That wasn’t to say that he knew her, because of course he didn’t. They’d spent only a handful of hours together, all of which had been carried out under a thick blanket of pretense and obligation. But when he met her eyes, something sort of hopeful flashed in his irises; something in him was reaching for something in her, begging for the bridge to be secured. 

“Take your space,” he said after a minute of that dense, weighty silence. She didn’t miss the way he was conscious of where his bruised hands fell as he adjusted his posture again. “And when you’re ready, you know where to find me.”

A glimmer of frustration flashed in her chest, gripping her and begging her to remember why she was so upset, but it fell away almost as quickly as it had appeared. They were in this now, for better or worse, until the games were over. Being bitter with him now wasn’t going to make any of that any easier, and to be entirely honest (whether she wanted to admit it or not), she wasn’t really all that upset at the idea that people would believe that she was with Percy. 

For as many complications and inconveniences as she’d faced already and surely would continue to face throughout the next six months, Annabeth recognized that she’d be a fool not to see the advantages of her situation, too. Perhaps it was merely a play to her ego then, a false sense of confidence that was propelled by the association with someone so admired and adored, but it was enough to sate her in that moment. 

So what if it was fake for them? It was real to everyone else. As far as anyone knew, Percy Jackson — the handsome, hotshot Olympic idol — was with her. Maybe it didn’t mean anything to him, but it meant a hell of a lot to her. 

Realizing she was chewing on her lip, Annabeth shook her head. She uncrossed her arms at last, feeling the emotional weight of the small action to her core as she lowered her defenses. “Percy, you don’t have to—”

At the same moment, both of their cell phones chimed. 

Percy glanced at the smartwatch on his wrist. “Did you get the same one?”

When he looked back up, Annabeth pulled her phone out of her pocket, opening the new message. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Great.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Great.”

-

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 128

Walking into Brunner’s office for the second time that week somehow felt even worse. She might have been concerned about what was going to happen when she’d last been to the Administrative Building, but this time, she knew that the meeting could only be about one thing.

As she started up the hallway, Annabeth was surprised to see Percy leaning against the wall near the elevators. “Hey,” she said as she came to a stop in front of him. “What are you doing?”

“Waiting for you. I figured we could walk in together,” he shrugged, pulling the earbuds out of his ears and sliding them back into their case before he pocketed them. “If this is some kind of check-in or something, it’d look good for it to seem like we’re trying, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she admitted. “Well, let’s get this over with.”

“After you,” he said, gesturing up the hallway with a half-hearted smile. Annabeth rolled her eyes, though she was sure her smirk betrayed her. She turned, leading the way to the Dean’s office as they walked together in silence. 

It had been one of the longest, strangest weeks in Annabeth’s life. She could hardly believe that it was Friday— that only five days had passed since she’d agreed to this bizarre arrangement, and that so much could have happened in such a short amount of time. In less than a week, she’d experienced just about every possible emotion and explored the full spectrum of each of them. It had started out fine (if not a bit forced), crumbled in the middle, and somehow begun to redeem itself by the end.

Her conversation with Percy the night before had, admittedly, helped a lot. She was still upset and probably would be for a while, but she did forgive him. It was hard to stay mad when he was so obviously repentant, and she got the feeling that there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do to make it right if she’d asked. 

But that was the thing: there was nothing to ask, and she knew that. There was nothing that he could do to change the way things were. And, unfortunately, being in Dr. Brunner’s office only served as a reminder that this was exactly what she’d signed up for. So, she was surprised to learn that they had not been called into the office to be scolded for their performance. 

Once they were seated, the Dean wasted no time in jumping right to the point. He barely even acknowledged Annabeth, looking directly at Percy as he spoke. 

“The safety of our students is our top priority, Mr. Jackson,” Dr. Brunner said seriously, his eyes deep and pensive. “I assure you that we’ve taken the threat seriously and are doing our best to trace the source.”

“Threat?” Annabeth asked as Percy’s head dropped back in a sigh.

“It’s nothing,” he said, his voice sounding agitated. “It’s fine.”

“You got a threat?” she gaped, turning in her seat. She knew that she was being repetitive but her brain felt incapable of finding any other words at that moment. “You’re being threatened? ”

“Miss Chase,” Dr. Brunner said gently. “I’d be happy to explain if you would just—”

“Look, I don’t want Annabeth mixed up in all of this,” Percy interrupted, lifting his head. His voice was stern, more demanding than she’d ever heard it. “This isn’t something that she needs to be concerned with.”

Probably he hadn’t meant anything by it, but it still felt a little like a slap in the face. So what if he didn’t want her to know about whatever had happened? It’s not like it had anything to do with her anyway. Her eyes fell to the floor as she tried to hide the hurt, even if she didn’t understand why she was hurt in the first place. 

“I’m afraid that you and I both know that’s not an option,” Brunner said definitively, “as this involves her as well.”

“It doesn’t have to,” Percy objected. “I told you this last time: I can handle myself.” 

“Percy, what’s going on?” Annabeth asked. Her mind was reeling. Percy had apparently received some sort of threat — one serious enough that the school was getting involved — and now Brunner was claiming that she was at risk too? “What aren’t you telling me?”

“It’s really not a big deal, Chase,” he shook his head. “I promise— if I thought you were in any sort of trouble, I’d tell you. But this is just… this just happens sometimes. This is about me, not you.”

She eyed him skeptically for a moment before she turned her attention back to Dr. Brunner. “What happened?”

There was a beat of silence as Dr. Brunner appeared to weigh his options. His brown eyes drifted between Percy and Annabeth, seeming to wager whether he felt it was worth it to ignore Percy’s insistence that she be left out of the loop. Finally, he sighed. 

“It would appear that there are certain, well… fans that don’t particularly approve of Mr. Jackson’s choices,” he said slowly. The way he spoke made it utterly plain that every syllable was being selected carefully and intentionally. 

“Choices,” Annabeth repeated, turning the word over and over in her head, examining it from all sides until something managed to click into place. Choices. Like, who he was dating. “Oh.”

Percy’s jaw was clenched tightly as he stared daggers at Dr. Brunner. 

“Indeed,” Dr. Brunner nodded. “And while I find that to be not only a foolish assumption of your character, Miss Chase, but also a rather extreme reaction, I must continue to insist that you take precautions.” 

“This is ridiculous,” Percy said, his voice growing slightly louder. “This isn’t even the first time that this has happened— you know that! You knew about that when I enrolled.”

“Yes, Mr. Jackson, that is correct,” Dr. Brunner acknowledged. “However, at that time, the events that I discussed with your father were in the past. We are dealing with a present threat, and I cannot allow it to go unaddressed. If the negative attention continues to build, I am afraid that we may need to dissolve our agreement.”

Annabeth’s ears pricked at that. “Excuse me?”

“If things continue to escalate— well, I do apologize but I don’t feel that it would be wise to continue to knowingly put the two of you in the spotlight and allow either of you to be in harm’s way,” Dr. Brunner shook his head, continuing to carefully assemble his words. “It would simply be unethical for us to—”

Annabeth scoffed, and she was pretty sure that Percy did too. “So now you’re worried about ethics?” she laughed dryly. “Not when you were bribing students to do dirty work for you, though—”

“Annabeth—”

“No, Percy,” she shook her head, ignoring the objection, “You know I’m right. This is insane, this entire idea was insane. And we were insane for agreeing to it. You know—”

“Miss Chase,” Dr. Brunner said firmly. “You would do well to choose your next words very carefully.”

Percy’s fists balled tightly, his knuckles going white almost instantly beneath the splotchy yellow of the already mostly-faded bruises. Her words died in her throat, her tongue seeming to nearly go numb in its unwillingness to speak. 

Leaning forward, Dr. Brunner lowered his voice. “I believe we all understand that this arrangement is mutually beneficial, is it not?” he asked, pausing to allow them to answer but neither she nor Percy responded. “And I don’t seem to recall either of you questioning the ethics of the offer at our last meeting. So perhaps it would be best if we all calmed down and remembered what is at stake here.”

Money. Money was at stake. 

That was what it boiled down to— that was what everything always boiled down to. It was about promoting the school and their Athletics department and getting more exposure, recognition, and ultimately, donors, sponsors, and tuition from new students. It was about scholarships (whether that word was necessarily a fair description or not remained a mystery she didn’t care to ponder) and the freedom that they gave her to be able to actually take care of herself.

It was what had made her play into his hand in the first place: that stubborn knowledge that taking their money would allow her to quit one of her exhausting jobs, let her focus more time on training and on herself. If only she’d had more money, if only she’d had more time— and if, and if, and if, until she found herself here.

Though it might feel like a stupid thing to sell your soul for, money was an evil that was so entirely necessary that it made even the strongest of morals pliable. And through some stroke of ill fate, Dr. Brunner had seen straight through to her most materialistic, guilty desires and driven his words directly into that soft spot of insecurity. 

“So, I will ask once again: do we understand one another, Miss Chase?” Dr. Brunner asked after a full minute of tense silence. He leaned back in his wheelchair, resting his hands in his lap. 

“Yes,” she said, her voice sounding tight and dry. At her side, Percy exhaled a shaky breath. 

“Very good,” Brunner said, accepting her answer without much fanfare. “Now, I believe we still need to discuss the matter of conditions.”

“Conditions?” Percy asked, finally speaking again. 

Dr. Brunner merely nodded, reaching into the top drawer of his desk, the same drawer he’d pulled those newspapers out of only a few days before. He removed a small stack of papers, separating the copies and holding two out for them to take. After a brief glance at Percy, she reached out to take one and he followed. 

“This situation is unorthodox, I know,” Dr. Brunner began as Annabeth’s eyes looked over the front of the document. “But I’ve spoken with my secretary at length, as well as with the University’s legal advisors, and we feel that it would be best for all parties if we should have some sort of formal agreement.”

The contract she held in her hands was simple. It had only a few terms, barely two pages in length, and was extremely vague as to what was expected of the two athletes that sat across from the Dean. Vague, she assumed, because no self-respecting attorney would ever allow a contract to adequately attempt to explain what it was they’d been asked to do. There was a short clause at the end that allowed for the dissolution of the agreement should it be determined that the attention was negatively affecting Percy, Annabeth, or the school. 

The document was clear enough to establish that they would be compensated for their assistance in ‘school marketing efforts’, with exact dollar figures in writing. In exchange, they would be expected to make themselves available for media events as needed, and continue to participate in the ‘campaign’ through the end of the summer. 

A sick amusement bubbled up inside of her stomach and she nearly laughed out loud right there in the middle of the office. ‘School marketing’? ‘Campaign’? She wondered if she would grow used to the absurdity at some point. 

“Can you even do this?” Percy asked, looking over the paper. “Isn’t this, like, basically extortion?”

“We have asked nothing illegal of either of you,” Dr. Brunner interjected. “Quite the opposite, in fact— this agreement is merely to protect both yourselves and the Institution from the risks of potential issues. That’s all.”

“That’s all?” he said, obviously amused. “Right. This is a very normal contract, my mistake. Please, forget I said anything.”

“Percy,” Annabeth sighed, looking over the last paragraph before she looked up. “He’s right. There’s nothing in here that’s unreasonable— well, not anything more than what we’d already agreed to, anyway. This just protects us from getting ripped off.”

It was quiet as Percy stared back at her, his mouth in a tight line as he seemed to search her face for any hint that she wasn’t being honest about how she felt about this. He glanced down at the papers in his hand one more time. Finally, he sighed, looking back up to meet her eyes. “Last chance to back out. You’re sure about this?”

“No,” she shrugged, “But I mean… best case scenario, remember?”

He smiled at that, and she kind of hated how warm it made her feel. Inside jokes. They had inside jokes. Maybe whoever was in charge of keeping the universe running had a sense of humor, after all. “Yeah. Best case scenario.”

“Excellent,” Dr. Brunner said, his voice sounding much more cheerful and friendly than it had just a minute ago. He held out a pen to each of them. “I’m glad we can all agree that this is in your best interests.”

Annabeth took the pen before she lost her nerve. She was still feeling a little hesitant but she tried hard to make sure that her face didn’t give that away. If Percy faltered a second time, she wasn’t sure she’d have it in her to convince him again. The pen slid easily across the paper until her signature stared back at her from the line at the bottom of the page. 

The Dean held out a hand in her direction, taking the papers from her and adding his own signature to the bottom before he did the same to Percy’s. It was finished. If the promise Dr. Brunner had made on Monday held true, her thirty pieces of silver should be in her student account by the end of the day.

“Is that it?” Percy asked, voicing the question that had been dancing on her own tongue. 

“That is all for today,” he nodded. “But I would ask that you take my advice into consideration, Mr. Jackson. Should the threats continue—”

“I’ll handle it,” Percy said with finality.

Dr. Brunner sighed in exasperation. Annabeth understood the feeling— arguing with Percy was exhausting. “Perhaps you will try,” he allowed, “but you cannot control what is said to and about Miss Chase.”

“I said I’ll handle it,” Percy repeated. “Are we finished here?”

Dr. Brunner’s eyes seemed to narrow an almost imperceptible amount. “Yes,” he said after another moment. “Yes, I suppose we are.”

“Great. Annabeth, let’s go,” Percy said, rising to his feet and dropping the ballpoint pen back onto the Dean’s desk.

“I’d actually like to talk to Dr. Brunner alone for a moment,” she said hesitantly. “You don’t have to wait for me if you have somewhere to be.”

Percy eyed her for a few long seconds before he apparently decided that she knew what she was doing. He nodded once before he pulled his backpack onto his shoulder and walked out of the office. 

Once the door was closed behind him, the office somehow felt ten times smaller. The space was tight and constricting and being here with only Brunner certainly didn’t make it feel more inviting. 

“Is everything alright?” he asked her after a few moments. 

Annabeth nodded. “I just wanted to talk to you about that whole ‘threat’ thing, and I knew that Percy wasn’t going to make it easy.”

“I see you two have gotten to know each other,” Dr. Brunner chuckled lightly. “Yes, Mr. Jackson and I usually do tend to go ‘round and ‘round over these things. He’s a good boy, but he is… stubborn.” 

Something about the way Dr. Brunner spoke about Percy caused her defenses to rise. She could hear the faintest traces of annoyance in his tone, something that hinted that maybe he wasn’t entirely accepting of him or of his behavior— and while that might’ve been a fair assessment from anyone else, Annabeth couldn’t help but find it a little bold given their circumstances.

“I just want to know if he’s actually in any danger,” she said. “He didn’t say anything to me about it when I told him about some of the messages I’ve gotten. I didn’t realize that he was getting the same kind of comments.”

“The University was notified that some concerning posts were made by an anonymously managed social media account,” Dr. Brunner explained. “The account has since been suspended and we have no reason to believe that there was any truth in the words, however we do like to err on the side of caution. And as much as we are looking forward to working with you in the coming months, I will not stand by and allow students of this institution to be subjected to such treatment.”

“So you think it’s over, then?” Annabeth asked, feeling a little better after receiving a few of the details. “You think that the person wasn’t serious?”

Dr. Brunner was quiet for a moment, his eyes studying her. “Miss Chase,” he said, crossing his arms as he settled against the back of his chair, “may I speak candidly with you?”

“I— sure, I guess so,” she stammered. 

“You’re a lovely girl; smart and very successful in both your athletic and academic accomplishments,” he began. She could feel the but coming, bracing for whatever he had to say. “But you have a bit of a reputation that you have yet to overcome. And while I feel that you are well on your way to proving doubters wrong, there is still some… shall we say, trepidation among those loyal to the sport.”

“So, they’re ridiculing Percy because… because of what I did four years ago?” Annabeth asked, her brow furrowing. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It seems to be more about his judgment, I’m afraid,” he said with a frown, and Annabeth got the impression that he really did feel bad about saying it. “You’re aware that Percy has been to the Olympics once before, I’m sure?”

She nodded.

“He was nameless then; known only to a handful of college scouts, local enthusiasts, and the most loyal of followers. But once he made his first appearance in Rio, he garnered quite a bit of attention,” Brunner explained. “And when the news of who his father is broke… well, it was a bit overwhelming for him, I think. Aegaeus himself came to visit the University after Percy had committed and met with me as well as the Athletics Director, the Dean of Students, and several other administrators. We spoke at length about what precautions we would take should the need arise.

“The fuss died down after the games and I, for one, am of the opinion that his transition into our school was quite smooth,” he continued. “But we continue to monitor the situation, since his father has asked it of us, and we have noticed the spike of conversation in recent months as we move closer to qualifiers.”

“I’m sorry,” Annabeth said when he seemed to come to the end of his explanation, “but I still don’t see what this has to do with me.”

“People are watching, Miss Chase,” Dr. Brunner said. “They are watching Percy, which means that now, they are also watching you. And your track record with high-pressure competitions is not being overlooked.”

“It wasn’t like that,” she tried to say, feeling defensive of the seventeen year-old girl that had turned her back on her teammate, on the sport that she loved four years ago. “I was— there was a lot going on and I couldn’t—”

“I understand that we are much more than the sum of our past mistakes, Annabeth,” he said, using her first name for the first time since she’d entered his office. It felt oddly personal, but it did help to calm her, however slightly. “But those that are most invested in the games are a bit wary, that’s all. And I’ve observed what seems to be a bit of a feeling of concern that this shortcoming they believe you to have will affect Percy’s performance.”

“They think I’m weak. Or they think that Percy won’t be serious about competing, because they think that I’m not serious,” she said, trying to keep her voice even despite the venom that stung in her throat. Annabeth bit the inside of her cheek. “So what can I do?”

It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. No one had ever paused their mocking long enough to ask themselves why Annabeth had walked away from volleyball in the first place. And now, to hold Percy responsible for her failures? It wasn’t right. It was bad enough that she was still dealing with fallout of what had happened the last time she’d been this close to earning a spot on the Olympic team, but now she had to also live with the bitter revelation that it was hurting Percy, too. 

She wanted to scream. She wanted Brunner to tell her how to make this right. 

But instead, he simply smiled. “Prove them wrong.”

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 128

As troubling as it was to admit, Annabeth felt a lot better as she walked out of the Dean’s office that morning. The meeting had been weird to say the least, but the truth was that they were all probably a lot better off on this side of things. The contract, strange as it might have been, would at least ensure that the University would actually have to follow through on the promises that Dr. Brunner had made— and if she were being asked about it, she might have admitted that she did have some doubts about whether or not that would happen. 

Even more than that, Annabeth had a much clearer understanding of exactly what they were up against. She understood Percy a little better now that she knew what he’d been through in the past and had realized that he likely had become so desensitized to the nature of social media interactions that it hadn’t even crossed his mind when he’d posted the photo from their ‘date’. He thought that making a post like that would cause people to start talking — which was, really, what this was all about, right? — and he hadn’t been wrong. 

Still, it was all just so strange to think about. Annabeth was pretty sure that it would get easier— she would get to know Percy better and things would stop feeling so awkward; they would find a pattern that made Dr. Brunner happy, and they’d settle into a quiet sort of routine for the next few months. All in all, she had to continually remind herself, it could be worse: at least she was getting to do this with someone that was, usually, kind and thoughtful.

He was waiting by the elevators again, typing something on his phone when she stopped in front of him. His thumbs continued to move quickly over the keyboard for a few more seconds before he slid the phone into the pocket of his hoodie with a sigh. “You know, I would’ve told you whatever you wanted to know,” Percy said, a little more harshly than she’d been expecting, “but if talking to Brunner behind my back is your preferred way, I guess I’ve earned that.”

“Would you?” Annabeth asked, crossing her arms. She didn’t care for his tone. “Because you barely even wanted to talk about it in there, and Brunner sure seems to be up to date, so it’s not like you’d be telling him anything he doesn’t already know.”

Percy scoffed. “Brunner doesn’t know the half of it, alright?” he shook his head. “I just wish you would’ve asked me, not him.”

“Well, to be perfectly honest, Percy,” Annabeth said with a shrug of her shoulders, “I don’t know that I believe you would’ve told me. You didn’t tell me anything until today, and even that was like pulling teeth trying to get you to talk. You didn’t tell me you’d gotten some kind of a threat or that you’ve had issues with this stuff in the past. You could’ve given me a heads up.”

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to be concerned about it,” Percy explained, growing more irritated. “You shouldn’t have to be worried about what people are saying about me, and especially not about what people said four years ago. It’s just adding stress for no reason.”

“That’s not for you to decide,” she replied with a bit of a snap in her words. “I don’t really know how to tell you this, but if it affects you, it affects me, too. We’re supposed to be acting like a couple and dealing with all of this shit together, right? So do you really think that not telling me that kind of thing is a good idea?”

“It’s not that I didn’t want you to know, Annabeth. It’s just that I was worried you’d be,” his eyes went up to the dingy, faded ceiling tiles as he searched for the right word, “overwhelmed. And that’s the last thing I want.”

“Why would that even matter?”

“Because,” Percy sighed, exasperated as he looked at her again, his stare locking onto hers, “I was afraid that you’d back out. And I didn’t know if I’d be able to talk you into sticking it out, and I couldn’t let you give this up. Not when I know how badly you need this scholarship.”

Annabeth swallowed, considering his words for a moment. Probably she should have been expecting something like that. Probably she should know enough by now to know that Percy was, if nothing else, trying his damnedest to look out for her, even if she didn’t really understand why. He’d shown her multiple times that he was doing this for her and never once had he complained or made her feel guilty about it. 

“Okay. I— I understand,” she said finally, uncrossing her arms slowly. “But you have to be honest with me about this stuff from now on. I deserve to know.”

He eyed her carefully and once again she was caught off guard by the intensity of his stare. She felt herself straightening automatically, rising to her full height though he still looked down at her. After a few more seconds, he nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay?” she asked with a raised brow.

“Okay, I’ll tell you,” he promised. “You’re right— if we’re going to make it through this summer, we’re going to have to work together.”

“Thank you,” Annabeth nodded.

“What are you doing right now?” he asked, pressing the call button on the elevator panel. “Wanna grab coffee and complain a little more?”

“I can’t,” she sighed as the doors opened and she stepped inside. She leaned back against the wall of the lift as Percy pressed the button for the ground floor. “I have a class in half an hour.”

He nodded before he leaned against the opposite wall. “You know,” he said after a few moments of silence had passed, “I’m going to get really sick of telling you you’re right all the time.”

“Well,” she said, eyeing him, “there’s a very simple solution.”

“What’s that, Diner Girl?”

Annabeth smirked. “Stop being wrong all the time.”

-

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 127

Saturday morning Pilates classes with Hazel had become one of Annabeth’s favorite activities. It was a nice break from the more rigorous training she endured during the week and it was always nice to spend a little time with Hazel. This particular week, however, she’d found it nearly impossible to pull herself out of bed when her alarm had gone off. 

The morning sun was too bright, too harsh. She’d somehow survived one of the longest weeks of her entire life and all she wanted to do was sleep in— but Hazel wouldn’t be Hazel if she weren’t so dedicated. She’d dragged her out of bed and, somehow, Annabeth managed to be relatively attentive and focused during the hour long class. Knowing that she could take a nap before her training session with Piper that afternoon might’ve been the only thing that kept her going, but at least it worked.

By the time she’d finished her workout at the Aegis, she was looking forward to an evening alone. Connor had been checking in on her regularly, and as nice as that was, she was feeling a little bit smothered by his concern and definitely felt like some breathing room would be good for her. Thalia had returned from New York the night before but Annabeth hadn’t actually seen her yet. She kept weird hours, so it wasn’t really all that unusual that they hadn’t crossed paths, but Annabeth was still a bit bummed when she returned home to see the note on the whiteboard explaining that Thalia had gone out with her bandmates for the night. 

After changing into sweats, she began rifling through the mental catalog of their communal DVD collection and thinking of which movie she was going to choose that would best help her to waste the rest of her evening. But when she walked out of her bedroom, she was surprised to find both Hazel and Katie staring back at her. 

“Um, hi?” she said, lingering awkwardly in the doorway between her bedroom and the common area. “Is everything alright?”

Hazel had a sort of excited look on her face but said nothing, only shifted so that she was sitting cross-legged in the big, plush chair nearest the patio door. Katie was curled up on one end of the couch with an equally suspicious look on her face. 

“Why didn’t you tell us you were dating Percy Jackson?” Katie asked and Annabeth felt the breath leave her lungs.

“I— What?” she asked, entirely caught off guard by the question. 

“One of the girls in my microbiology lab is on the swim team and she asked me how you guys had met,” Katie explained. “And I didn’t know what she was even talking about, so she showed me that picture he posted of you guys down at the Wharf.”

The only reason Annabeth didn’t fully retreat into her room was that both Katie and Hazel seemed excited by the development. Katie wasn’t angry or accusing, she was just curious— the way anyone would be if their friend had a new partner. It would have been a completely reasonable question for her to ask if she and Percy were actually dating, and as far as either of her roommates knew, they were. 

Still, Annabeth couldn’t help but feel a little panicked. They hadn’t discussed what they were going to tell people, how they were going to answer these sorts of questions. 

“Katie told me and I honestly thought she was lying,” Hazel laughed. “I had to go check Percy’s account just to see it for myself.” 

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us!” Katie squealed, gesturing to the empty spot on the couch beside her. “Come on, Annabeth; you have to tell us everything.”

Annabeth took a steadying breath as she tried to bring a smile to her face and walked to the couch, settling into the spot that placed her between Katie and Hazel. She shrugged after a moment and decided that she might as well just get it over with. 

“It’s still new,” she said after a moment. That was true, at least. “We met at the diner.” That was true, too. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

“Is he a good kisser?” Hazel blurted out. So much for not being so bad. 

“Hazel!” Katie scolded. “You’re gonna make her clam up and then we’ll never get anything out of her.”

“I’m sorry,” she laughed. “It’s just, Annabeth hasn’t been in an actual relationship since—”

“Since Connor— I know, okay,” Annabeth interrupted. “Look, I wasn’t trying to hide it from you or anything. We haven’t really told a lot of people until this week.” That was mostly true, too. 

“Oh my God… Does Connor know?” Katie asked, leaning forward slightly. She, rather notoriously, was of the opinion that the extremely platonic friendship between Annabeth and Connor was a lot more involved than it was.

“Yes, Connor knows,” she sighed. “You’ve got to let that go, Katie.”

“All I’m saying is that Travis told me—” 

“Travis is an idiot,” Annabeth sighed. Katie and Travis, Connor’s slightly older brother, had been dancing around an on-again-off-again relationship for the better part of the last three years, which for Annabeth mostly just meant that she knew too much. “Trust me. There’s nothing going on with me and Connor, not anymore. We’re just friends. He’s… He likes Percy.” Okay, that one was a lie. 

To be fair, she didn’t really know what Connor’s present opinion of Percy was. He hadn’t said anything that made her feel like there might be bad feelings, but she also hadn’t exactly taken the time to ask. She assumed that there was likely still some apprehension in the wake of the whole Instagram incident, but if Annabeth had been able to forgive Percy, she couldn’t really see a reason that Connor wouldn’t also let it go. As far as she knew, he was fairly indifferent, so saying that he liked Percy was really only a tiny stretch of the truth. Probably.

She could worry about that later.

“So? What’s he like?” Hazel asked, practically vibrating with excitement. “Tell us everything.”

“He, uh,” Annabeth stammered. She could feel her cheeks growing more and more red each second, but maybe that would actually help her in this situation. “He’s nice. Really nice.”

“And?” Katie asked expectantly, waving her hand to urge Annabeth to continue. “What else?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Annabeth laughed. “Honestly it’s just nice to talk to someone that understands the whole training thing.” That part was true, too. 

The reality was, the main reason that Annabeth hadn’t been in a serious relationship since she and Connor had called it off was that she didn’t have the time to devote to another person, and she really didn’t have the energy for constantly having to explain that to someone that didn’t understand. Percy, on the other hand, had his own demanding training regimen and didn’t even blink when she told him her schedule. It felt good to have someone that she could relate to. 

“So do you guys just work out together all the time or whatever?” Katie asked. “Or are you too busy, you know, working out—”

“Katie,” Annabeth cut her off. Hazel looked like she would love nothing more than to sink into the chair and disappear forever. “We are not having this conversation.”

“Oh, come on,” she groaned. “You never tell us about anyone you’re dating.”

“You haven’t even been out with anyone since that girl from your night class asked you out last semester,” Hazel added. “And that was only one date.”

“Oh my God,” Katie laughed. “Wasn’t she the one who had toenail clippings in the cupholder of her car?”

“Yes,” Annabeth groaned, shaking her head, “and I should’ve jumped out of the car right then.” She pinched the bridge of her nose remembering the date way too vividly despite it having been over a year ago. “She’s also the one that tried to convince me to drive up to Sacramento to meet her parents— on the first date.”

Talking about her past relationships (or lack thereof) was a lot less suffocating than trying to find convincing answers to her roommates’ questions about Percy. But Katie was always the first to jump at new gossip, always ready to share whatever juicy news she’d heard through the grapevine. Even Hazel, who mostly kept to herself around the apartment, was quick to jump into the mix. 

“Have you met Percy’s parents yet?” Hazel asked, deftly steering the conversation back to the topic Annabeth had been hoping to move away from. “His dad’s like, kind of famous, right?”

“He is,” Annabeth nodded, grateful to know enough about Percy’s family to be able to answer a few softball questions. “He lives in Greece, though— even Percy doesn't get to see him all that often.”

“Greece? That’s so cool,” Katie said airily. “They’re doing some really cool stuff in Delphi with a new irrigation technique that’s really going to help with water conservation.” She continued to ramble on about the possibilities this new system could bring as Hazel and Annabeth exchanged a brief glance of amusement. They both knew better than to get her started on any topic that was even tangentially related to agriculture or she could talk for hours.

When Katie paused to double-check something on her phone, Hazel jumped at the gap. “What about his mom? Does she live around here?”

“Yeah,” Annabeth nodded, “she owns the bakery that Dee orders the diner’s pastries from, actually. I’ve only met her a few times, and I haven’t officially met her as—” her voice caught for a moment, the world feeling like cotton on her tongue, “as Percy’s girlfriend.”

She’d hoped that her slip wasn’t noticeable, but that would’ve been asking too much. Katie raised an eyebrow, looking at her incredulously. “You’re, like, really nervous about this guy.”

“I guess,” Annabeth shrugged. Telling half-truths had been the best method so far; those were the easiest things to say. “I just don’t want to mess this up.”

“Aw,” Hazel tilted her head, bringing her hands up to her face. “This is so exciting, Annabeth! You guys might even get to go to the Olympics together!”

“I didn’t even think about that,” Katie gaped. “That is so cute. Okay, now you really can’t mess this up.”

“I’m not planning on it,” Annabeth laughed. Not now, anyway. Not until this deal is finished.

“I still can’t believe you didn’t tell us, though,” Hazel said to Annabeth before she leaned forward, peering around her to shoot Katie a look. “And I can’t believe that we didn’t notice.”

“You haven’t brought him around have you? Surely someone would’ve seen him if he’d been to the apartment before,” Katie mused.

Annabeth shook her head, picking at the peeling Aegis logo printed on the thigh of her sweatpants. “He’s always met me downstairs whenever he’s picked me up and we haven’t hung out here before.”

“Oh my God, you should invite him to go to Thalia’s show with us,” Katie said, grabbing Annabeth’s arm like it was the greatest idea anyone had ever had before. “It’s not 'til the end of the month— that gives you like two weeks to prepare him for meeting Hazel.”

“Hey!” Hazel objected. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Are you going to bring a ruler to make sure that they stay five inches apart?” Katie grinned. Teasing Hazel was a time-honored pastime around their apartment and thankfully, Hazel was always a good sport.

“Ha, ha,” Hazel deadpanned, sticking her tongue out. “Laugh now, but you’ll be thanking me when we’re cheering for Annabeth while she’s killing it in Athens instead of planning her baby shower.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Katie said, half dissolving into laughter.

“But,” Annabeth added, shooting Hazel a warm smile, “we love you for it.”

Hazel pouted dramatically, crossing her arms in feigned offense.

Annabeth joined Katie in her laughter and it was only a few seconds before Hazel cracked as well. She wished Thalia were there, laughing with them while they talked about bad dates and recounted the weirdest people that had come through their lives through the years. Thalia had more than her fair share of crazy ex-girlfriends and her stories were always the best.

The subject of Percy seemed to pass for now as Katie tried to guide the conversation back to the irrigation systems that she’d been so interested in before and Hazel managed to convince her to watch a movie instead. Annabeth didn’t bring it up again, thankful that she’d been successful at appeasing their curiosity for the time being. 

One thing was clear, however— she and Percy had a lot of work to do. 

She’d mostly gotten lucky that her roommates hadn’t asked more questions or wanted more specific information about Percy, about their relationship. And even though there was a part of her that acknowledged that she didn’t owe them any answers, she also understood that the entire point of this weird little experiment they were a part of was to convince people that they were dating— and if she couldn’t even convince her roommates that they were together, how were they supposed to convince the entire world that they were in love?

Couples were hot topics. They were easy to sell, fun to talk about, exciting to follow. She thought about those big celebrity couples like Ben and Jennifer or Brad and Angelina that had constantly commanded airwaves whenever something happened in their lives. And while she knew better than to think that their little charade would be anything even remotely comparable to an A-list celebrity marriage, it was a reminder of the way people flocked to report this kind of information.

The story about herself and Percy and their respective journeys to Athens might not make it into a Saturday Night Live sketch, but it would probably be popular among followers of their respective sports. Plus, there was every chance (as she assumed Dr. Brunner was betting on) that the spotlight might grow brighter if they were both successful in their endeavors to earn spots on the Olympic teams. 

As much as she hated to give Dr. Brunner credit, he wasn’t completely off base— young upstart athletes always garnered a lot of attention, and adding in the very clickable and shareable aspect of a sizzling romance was actually sort of a genius idea. But none of that would matter if they blew it. And even though they’d signed agreements with the school, she had a feeling that failing to present a believable love story to the press would cause their arrangement to fall apart faster than Connor’s running career. 

Annabeth pulled her phone out of her hoodie pocket as Hazel popped a movie into the DVD player— a tragically laughable vampire romance that caused Katie to groan loudly while Hazel dimmed the lights. She laughed to herself as she opened up her text messages.

8:21 PM - ANNABETH:
We’ve got a problem.

8:22 PM - PERCY J:
I love problems. whats up?

8:24 PM - ANNABETH:
My roommates asked
about you and I didn’t
know what to say.

8:24 PM - ANNABETH:
One of them is in a
band and they’re playing
a bar in San Jose at
the end of the month and
they want me to bring you

8:27 PM - PERCY J:
Well

8:27 PM - PERCY J:
do you want me to go

8:30 PM - ANNABETH:
I think you probably
should

8:31 PM - PERCY J:
Then tell me when
and I’ll be there

She wondered if Percy was like this with girls he was actually dating. Was he always so flexible, so accommodating? The more time she spent with him, the more she wondered why he hadn’t had a serious girlfriend already. He seemed to be genuine and protective, someone that felt like you could count on to be there when you needed him— to say nothing of the fact that it was kind of impossible to ignore how attractive he was. 

And on top of all of that, he was loaded. Alright, his dad was loaded. But Percy didn’t seem to have any qualms in spending his dad’s money (not that she thought that he should— in her opinion, he’d more than earned the right) and even she couldn’t deny that that was a pretty attractive bonus, especially for college girls. From the outside, he was the total package. 

Her glimpses at who he was underneath all of that had been just as intriguing. Maybe it was all fake, and if it was, she didn’t think she’d be able to blame him. After all, this whole thing was fake, right? So why should she expect him to be real with her?

Still, something in her gut told her that wasn’t the case. Annabeth knew what liars and manipulators looked like, had stared them in the face too many times, and Percy didn’t fit the bill. He was intense, sometimes mysterious in a way that was a little unsettling (like his knack for deflection, or changing the subject to avoid talking about a specific topic), and a little short tempered at times, but all in all, he seemed to be a good guy.

Annabeth watched the movie for a few minutes, though her mind was still a million miles away. Maybe this wasn’t a real relationship, but maybe they could be friends. She unlocked her phone again, her messages already opened to the thread she wanted. 

‘Best case scenario,’ she thought to herself, ignoring the flipping feeling in her stomach as she typed a new message into the text box.

8:40 PM - ANNABETH:
So.. what are you
up to tonight?

8:41 PM - PERCY J:
Watching a movie with
Frank wbu?

8:42 PM - ANNABETH:
Same here. Bet your
movie is better.

8:43 PM - PERCY J:
what are you
watching?

8:45 PM - ANNABETH:
I don’t want to admit it 

8:45 PM - ANNABETH:
You’ll make fun of me

8:46 PM - PERCY J:
I’m gonna make fun
of you anyway
Diner Girl 😉

8:46 PM - PERCY J:
I only pick on people
I like

8:47 PM - ANNABETH:
Oh, so you like me
now?

8:55 PM - PERCY J:
I think I have to

Annabeth stared at her phone for a long time after that. It was only five words, but they felt more significant somehow. She didn’t like that it had taken him so long to reply in the first place, but his response had left her feeling even more confused. 

Was Percy saying that he only liked her because they’d signed a contract saying that they had to pretend to like each other? And if that was the reason… why the hell was she so disappointed?

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 113

With the post-spring break lull behind them, the home-stretch of the semester had ramped up in an unbelievable way. Annabeth’s end of the year projects were taking up more of her time than usual and (after only moving up one spot in the most recent rankings) Coach had increased the length of their Monday/Wednesday/Friday sessions. When Annabeth wasn’t busy with her classes or working on internship applications for the fall, she was either on the court or in the gym. 

Occasionally, she found a spare few minutes in the day to shoot a text to Percy, but he was nearly as busy as she was. Usually, her texts would go without reply for hours, and then she’d be too busy to respond right away and the cycle would start over. Still, trying to talk to him even in these sporadic bursts had helped. In the last two weeks, they’d kept in touch and gotten to know each other a little better.

By the time Thalia’s concert rolled around, two weeks had passed since they’d had a chance to have a real conversation and Annabeth would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little nervous. She was half-expecting him to bail since they hadn’t really talked about it since she’d first brought it up, but Friday night, Percy called to confirm a few details with her. They’d decided that it made the most sense for them to ride together. Despite Annabeth’s offer to drive, Percy insisted, and after remembering what he’d said about not getting to take his bike out very often, she agreed to let him pick her up. 

Knowing a little more about what to expect from a date with Percy now, she planned her outfit accordingly. She picked out a thrifted t-shirt and black jeans, paired with her go-to leather jacket that would fit right in with the crowd at Thalia’s show. Instead of hoping that her hair would survive the trek down to San Jose, Annabeth pulled it over her shoulder and twisted the long blonde strands into an intricate braid to protect it from the wind.

One downside to taking the bike to the show was that Connor was going to be without a ride. He wasn’t too upset to be missing the show (and Annabeth had offered him use of her car if he really wanted to go) but mostly because he was bummed about not being along for the ride when she introduced Percy to her roommates for the first time.

Katie and Hazel had gone down first thing that morning, opting to spend their Saturday in San Jose, and promised that they’d link up with Annabeth and Percy at the show. They’d both seemed surprised when she’d told them that she was bringing Percy along, apparently having not expected her to actually go through with inviting him, but they were excited to meet him. 

And that made her nervous. This was the first time that she and Percy would really have to act like a couple and they’d have to do it in front of people that knew her better than just about anyone. She’d spent most of the morning giving herself a series of pep talks to try and psych herself up for the night, and by the time seven-thirty rolled around, she was only a little anxious.

This time, when her phone chimed with the message informing her that Percy was waiting outside, she was already on the stairs. Her pace quickened as she pushed through the heavy door at the bottom of the stairwell and hurried out to the parking lot. Percy was standing beside the bike when she spotted him.

“Hey,” she smiled, giving him a small wave as she walked up to him. He looked good, as he usually did. He wore a black denim jacket over a hoodie with the words ‘Montauk, Long Island’ across the chest in faded navy blue letters and had his helmet, as expected, tucked under his arm.

“Hey,” he smiled back. “I, uh, I have something for you.”

“Okay,” Annabeth said cautiously, rocking on the balls of her feet. “What is it?”

“Close your eyes.”

She hesitated only a moment before she closed her eyes obediently. The seat creaked as Percy opened the storage compartment and rummaged around for a moment. Finally, the compartment slammed closed again and she heard his steps moving closer. 

“Don’t freak out,” he said, and she could hear the amusement in his voice. He was right in front of her now, so close she could smell his cologne— it was a light, clean fragrance, like an ocean breeze. Despite his warning, she flinched slightly when she felt something being placed on her head, slowly sliding down over the sides: a helmet. “Okay, you can look.”

Annabeth spun around automatically to look at her reflection in the window of the car behind her. The helmet was identical to Percy’s, the one that she’d borrowed on their last outing, except this one was white. “You got me a helmet?”

Percy just shrugged. “I figure this won’t be our last ride and I don’t want either of us dying before our contract is finished.”

“I appreciate the concern,” she laughed as she turned back toward him, sliding the shield up so that he could see her face. He was giving her that amused look as he so often did, that one dimple stealing the show as he smirked. “Thank you.”

“It’s not a big deal,” he assured her. “Besides, I think it kind of suits you.”

“Well, that’s definitely not something I ever thought I’d hear anyone say,” Annabeth said, reaching to zip the front of her jacket as they both stepped back toward the bike.

“If you’ve got any insults for me, get them out of your system now,” Percy teased, settling himself on the bike. “It’s a long drive to San Jose and it’s not gonna be a quiet one.”

“Hmm,” she hummed, lowering the face shield again. “I’m all out at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll think of something before we get there.” 

He pulled his helmet on as she moved to sit behind him and wound her arms around his waist. She felt him laughing more than she heard it. Percy flipped the switch and the engine rumbled to life. “Hold on tight, Diner Girl.”

San Jose was nearly an hour’s drive from her apartment but it was such a nice evening, she barely noticed the time passing and they were pulling into the small lot behind the bar before she knew it. She tugged off the helmet as soon as Percy cut the engine and stepped off of the bike. 

“Your first freeway ride,” Percy remarked as he lowered the kickstand and rose from the seat to remove his own helmet. “How are you feeling?”

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, honestly,” she admitted. “Even if you are one of the most reckless drivers I’ve ever ridden with.”

“Please,” he scoffed, storing his helmet before holding out a hand for hers. “I’m an excellent driver.”

Annabeth smirked as she handed him the helmet and watched him place it in the compartment along with his. “I thought you said you didn’t like to lie to people.”

“You’re not going to make this dating thing easy, are you?” Percy sighed, locking the compartment and tucking the keys into his pocket. “Where are your friends?”

“Inside, I think,” she answered, checking her phone one more time. “Katie texted me twenty minutes ago and said they were heading over, so they should be here.” When she looked up from her phone, she was surprised to see that the humor had mostly faded from his face. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” he shrugged. “I was just thinking about how this is, like, our first actual ‘ fake date’, you know? Since the last one probably doesn’t really count. But people are gonna be around for this one.”

“Isn’t that the point?” Annabeth asked, tilting her head. 

“Well, yeah,” he said, and she was happy to see that some of the amusement had returned to his expression, “but are you gonna be able to act like you like me for the next few hours?”

“I’ve been practicing,” she rolled her eyes. “Is that really all you’re worried about?”

“Actually I’m a little worried you’re gonna freak out on me again,” he admitted, shrugging his shoulders a bit. “Like, I think they’re gonna think it’s weird if we don’t touch each other at all, but I don’t want you getting the wrong idea, either.”

“The wrong idea?”

“Well, yeah, Annabeth,” he laughed nervously, meeting her eyes with a look that revealed the sincerity behind the casual façade he was putting on. “We’d spent a whole five minutes together before you started accusing me of trying to sleep with you and—”

“That is not what I meant at all and you know it,” Annabeth interrupted, feeling her cheeks already beginning to redden. “I just meant that, you know, I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to have any more contact than necessary. I don’t think it would be smart for us to get our feelings confused with all of this.”

Percy smirked at that, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he took a step closer. He leaned close to her face, so close that she could see a spray of light freckles across his nose and cheeks that she’d never noticed before. “Is that something you’re worried about, Chase?” he asked, his voice almost a whisper. “Getting your feelings confused?”

Annabeth swallowed, her usually unyielding resolve feeling dangerously pliable. “Of course not,” she managed, though the words sounded thin even to her own ears.

“Good,” he said as he straightened again. “Glad we cleared that up, then.”

She shook the strange feeling, willing the fluttering in her chest to still as she nodded toward the front of the bar. “Come on,” she said, already beginning to walk in the direction of the door. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Geez, don’t let your friends see you this excited,” Percy said sarcastically, coming up beside her. He nudged her with his shoulder as they walked and she nudged him right back, grinning as they approached the man standing in front of the door.

“I.D.s?” he said in a gruff voice. After they both presented their driver’s licenses and Percy paid their cover, the man gave them each a bright blue wristband and held the door open for them.

The inside of the bar was noisy but hollow, the sound of a room filled with voices but no music to dampen the roar. On the back wall, she could see the setup for Thalia’s band: a banner with their logo pinned against a purple velvet curtain and a variety of instruments resting in their stands among the web of cords and wires. Her eyes continued scanning until she caught a glimpse of movement and noticed Hazel waving her arms excitedly. 

“Last chance to bail,” she said, just loud enough for Percy to hear her over the dull roar of the room. 

“No chance,” he said, right as he slipped his arm around her waist. Her feet felt frozen in place, her torso stinging from the foreign weight of him. When she looked up at him, he was already giving her a smug look, a hint of a challenge in his eyes. “Don’t make a scene.”

Annabeth blinked, attempting to wipe the surprise from her face as they waded through the crowd and made their way over to the spot that her roommates had staked out near the stage. Katie was already biting her lip in excitement, but it was almost unnoticeable alongside Hazel’s blinding smile. 

“Hey guys,” Annabeth said as they came to a stop. There was an awkward silence as everyone stared at each other and waited for someone to speak. She looked to Percy before gesturing to the girls. “Percy, these are my roommates: Hazel and Katie. Katie is,” she paused, making a sort of noncommittal hand gesture, “kind of dating Connor’s brother.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Katie beamed, shooting Annabeth a look, “since we’ve heard practically nothing about you.”

Annabeth flushed but thankfully Percy just laughed. “It’s alright,” he assured her. “I’m pretty boring anyway.”

“Did you guys have fun today?” Annabeth asked, trying to steer the conversation in a safer direction. Thankfully, they took the bait and proceeded to launch into an extremely detailed retelling of their day, including Katie showing off the new scrape on her elbow from falling off of the scooters they’d rented. 

They’d visited the Winchester House and Annabeth had to admit that she was a little jealous— it had always been on her list of things to do, but she’d never been. She’d done a project on it for one of her classes last semester and ever since, she’d been completely mesmerized by the intricate layout of the confusing property.

Hazel was most excited to tell them about the murals they’d seen while they were riding their rented scooters around downtown. As they talked, the feeling of Percy’s arm was becoming less strange— except, of course, for the fact that his hand flexed every few minutes, giving her side a gentle squeeze as if to remind her that he was there. As if she’d be able to forget.

He leaned down, his mouth close to her ear. “I’m gonna go grab us drinks— what do you want?”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “We have to drive back.”

“Don’t worry; I’m not stupid,” Percy shook his head with a smirk.

The show wasn’t even set to start for another thirty minutes, and that was assuming that they actually came out on time. Annabeth decided that he was right and that she didn’t need to worry about him having one drink. “Vodka cranberry,” she said after a moment’s consideration. 

“You got it,” he nodded, giving her side one more squeeze before his arm fell away and he disappeared in the direction of the bar. 

“You guys are so cute together,” Hazel practically squealed the moment that Percy was out of earshot. “Like, literally made for each other.”

Annabeth looked at Katie, hoping for a vote of neutrality. “She’s kind of right, Annabeth,” Katie grimaced, laughing a little as she spoke. “And he is so much hotter in person.”

“Alright, that’s—” Annabeth blushed, shaking her head. “Don’t do that.”

“You’re so flustered,” Hazel teased, pushing her arm lightly. “I’ve never seen you like this.”

Annabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes, knowing that she really did need to try harder to not seem so awkward about all of this. She couldn’t tell them, obviously, that she was anxious for very different reasons than the ones that they were implying. But maybe her nerves were actually helping her case tonight. At least she had the advantage of blaming the weirdness on the fact that this was their first time meeting Percy. 

She was sort of cursing the fact that she’d already used her diversion card earlier in the conversation when she felt cold glass being placed in her hand and the return of the phantom weight around her waist. Mostly, she was surprised that he’d been able to navigate through the crowd so quickly, but apparently being six-foot-two and solid muscle made the task easier.

“Thanks,” Annabeth said, glancing over at Percy who was, to her surprise, holding a bottle of water. “I thought you were getting a drink, too.”

“I did,” he replied, his brow knitting in confusion at her question as he raised the water bottle a bit.

“I just thought you meant—” she shook her head. “Never mind.”

He gave her a soft smile before he looked back at her roommates. Percy was congenial if nothing else. It was effortless, the way he so easily struck up a conversation with Katie and Hazel, asking them about their majors and discussing their classes and hobbies. It didn’t take long for them to figure out that Katie had a handful of classes with Percy’s friend, Frank, and they were able to bond over that common thread. 

Then, when he learned that Hazel was studying art education, he offered the information that his mom used to be really into ceramics and sculptures and had even sold a few pieces in the past. Annabeth mostly just listened, a little in awe of how easily he’d inserted himself into their lives and made relevant connections so quickly. She marveled, not for the first time, over how much there was still to learn about Percy Jackson— and surprised even herself by how much she was looking forward to the task.

The lights dimmed and the crowd responded with an infectious cheer as everyone turned toward the stage. A man, presumably whoever was in charge of booking acts for the bar, stepped out with a mic in hand. He reminded everyone once again that they wouldn’t hesitate to press charges for any property damage and asked that those with drinks be mindful of their glasses before, finally, the group filtered onto the stage. 

“Uh, Annabeth?” Percy asked, pulling her attention away from the emcee. His eyes were still on the stage as he tilted his head toward her. “Which one is your roommate?”

“There, on the right,” she said, gesturing to the girl sporting short, black hair with electric blue tips. She had a full sleeve of tattoos on her right arm, plainly visible as she reached for her guitar. “Thalia, the one on bass.”

Percy seemed a bit jarred by her answer but she didn’t get a chance to ask why. 

A girl with long red hair that was buzzed short on one side stepped up to the mic. “I’m Phoebe,” she said in a raspy voice before gesturing to the others behind her and naming them left to right. “And this is Zoë, Jo, Thalia, and Emmie— and we are Huntress.”

On the last word, Jo, the woman on drums, immediately began a count with her sticks and moments later, it was nearly impossible to hear anything other than the music. Annabeth glanced at Percy one more time and noticed that his guarded expression hadn’t faded, even as he bobbed his head along to the rhythm. 

It took several songs for Percy to loosen up but the crease between his eyebrows did eventually fall away and he got more into the music. He actually looked like he was trying to enjoy himself, which was more than she’d expected— Huntress’s music wasn’t for everyone, and to be perfectly honest, if Thalia hadn’t been her roommate, Annabeth would never listen to their stuff. 

At some point about halfway through the show, Percy took Annabeth’s empty glass from her and disappeared from her side. He returned several minutes later, after miraculously elbowing his way back to the front for the second time that night, and placed a cold bottle of water in her hands before looking back to the stage as if he’d been there the entire time. 

When the show was over, they filtered out of the bar slowly, the crowd around them in various stages of belligerence. As they stood on the sidewalk in front of the dive, Percy eyed her with a strange expression.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, trying to keep her voice low. Her ears were still ringing and she could only hope that she wasn’t speaking too loudly. “It looked like you were having a good time.”

“I was— I am,” he corrected, though it didn’t sound entirely genuine. He glanced back toward the door as Hazel and Katie walked out. “You should ride back with your friends. It’ll be colder now that the sun’s really down and you’ll be more comfortable in a car.”

“I really don’t mind, Percy,” Annabeth frowned, a bit put out by the suggestion. She didn’t understand why he was suddenly trying to pawn her off on her roommates. He’d seemed a little off before the show and she thought that he’d relaxed but that clearly was not the case. “It’s not even that chilly.”

“Hey,” Katie grinned as she and Hazel joined them on the sidewalk. “You guys about to head back?”

“Yes,” Percy answered before Annabeth had a chance. He wrapped an arm over her shoulders. “Annabeth is going to ride with you.”

“No, I’m not,” Annabeth objected. At that point, it wasn’t even that she wanted to ride with him so much as it was that she was determined not to let him make decisions for her. “I’m going with you.”

“Don’t be stubborn, babe,” he said, plastering on a smile that would’ve convinced anyone else. “It’s okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” He raised his eyebrows at the end of his question as if hinting that she should know what he was talking about. 

“I—” Annabeth was so flustered by the fact that he’d just called her babe that she couldn’t think of any other response. Begrudgingly, she nodded, trying to keep her expression neutral. “Yeah, of course.”

“Good,” Percy nodded. He turned back to Annabeth’s roommates. “I’m glad I finally got the chance to meet you. I had a nice time tonight.”

“We’re so glad you could come,” Katie grinned as Hazel nodded. “Tell Frank I said hi!”

“Will do,” he said with another not-quite-genuine smile, and she briefly wondered why she even recognized the difference. Percy turned his attention back to Annabeth, a flash of nervous hesitation in his eyes before the arm on her shoulders tightened, his lips barely grazing her temple. “Be careful getting back.”

If she hadn’t been so shocked by the fact that he’d just kissed her — okay, it wasn’t really a kiss, but still — she might’ve had something smart to say about that. He was the one climbing onto the back of a motorcycle, after all. “Let me know when you get home,” Annabeth managed as he turned to head to his bike. 

“I will,” he said, giving one more wave over his shoulder before he walked away. 

-

The ride back to San Francisco was quiet, thankfully, since Hazel and Katie were both tired from their busy day in the city. Annabeth offered to drive and both girls had fallen asleep within fifteen minutes of leaving the bar. She was just thankful that she wasn’t going to be forced to answer more questions now that they were all stuck in a vehicle together. 

When they got home, Annabeth headed straight for the shower. She stood under the scalding water for as long as she could stand it, flexing sore muscles in the warmth and washing the feeling of the dive bar off of her skin and out of her hair. Her nighttime routine was quick: brush hair, apply moisturizer, brush teeth, and done. She dropped her toothbrush back into the holder as she hit the light and walked out into her bedroom. 

If she’d been thinking clearly at all, she might’ve seen it coming. All the signs were there and if she hadn’t been so exhausted from her own busy day (she’d gone to Pilates alone, since Hazel was in San Jose, and her afternoon practice with Piper had run over by nearly an hour), she might’ve put it together sooner. Looking back, Annabeth would remember feeling like it should have been obvious that something was wrong— but she hadn’t been prepared at all.

When she walked out of the bathroom, she was met with the sight of Thalia, still in her clothes from the show, sitting on the end of her bed with a pensive expression on her face. She looked up at the sound of the door opening and her fierce eyes caused Annabeth to freeze in the doorway. 

“Annabeth,” Thalia frowned, and the nervousness in Annabeth’s gut twisted, “why didn’t you tell me you were dating Percy Jackson?”

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 113

Annabeth felt the air leave her lungs before Thalia’s words had even truly settled in her ears. She stepped forward cautiously, tossing her dirty clothes into the hamper beside the bathroom door even as her eyes stayed fixed on the girl sitting on the end of her bed. Thalia had kicked off her boots revealing brightly colored polka-dotted socks that almost looked comical against her otherwise monotone black outfit. 

“Can you sit?” Thalia asked, still frowning. “I think we should talk about this.”

“What’s there to talk about?” Annabeth asked, feeling the ball of anxiety that she’d almost grown accustomed to beginning to writhe in her chest. Thalia had never been the type to drop by just to chat. 

“Percy,” she repeated. “I didn’t— I mean, Katie mentioned that you were seeing someone but I didn’t realize it was him.”

Annabeth didn’t move from where she was standing. “Why does it matter?” 

“Can you please just come and sit down?”

She remained glued to her spot for several seconds before she decided that she was probably acting childish. It was just Thalia after all, and even though she looked tough, she was usually a pretty warm person— at least, to people she cared about. Annabeth nodded, crossing the small bedroom and sitting down on the bed, scooting herself all the way back against the headboard. 

“Annabeth, how well do you know Percy?” Thalia asked after what felt like nearly a full minute of silence. 

“We haven’t been together very long,” she said simply. She shrugged slightly. “I don’t know everything about him, but I know him well enough, I guess. Like I said, it’s still really new.”

Thalia looked like she had a thousand different things that she wanted to say. Instead, she just stared down at her hands in her lap, her legs crossed beneath her. 

“Thalia, what’s going on?” Annabeth asked finally. “You never care about who any of us are dating.”

That much was absolutely true. Thalia was only a year older than Annabeth and their other two roommates, but between having entirely different interests and attending a different school, she felt like she was in a totally different place in her life now. They passed like ships in the night most of the time, and with Thalia’s graduation just over six weeks away, that was more true than ever. 

But even when they’d been closer, back when they’d both had more time to invest in their friendship, Thalia had never been one to voice an opinion on any of the people she dated. There’d even been one instance when Annabeth was recounting a particularly bad date and Thalia remarked that the girl had been equally awful when she’d been out with her— never having bothered to mention that to Annabeth before the terrible date, simply because she preferred to stay out of her roommates social lives. But here she was, frowning so deeply Annabeth worried for her face muscles as she fumbled her words. 

“I knew Percy before,” Thalia said, looking up. She sighed like she didn’t know where to start, wasn’t sure how to say whatever it was that was swimming in her mind. “Back when he lived in New York. He was friends with—” her voice caught for a moment and Annabeth felt her stomach drop. “With Jason.”

Jason was Thalia’s brother, a year younger than Annabeth. He and Thalia hadn’t exactly been close when they were growing up, but when he made the decision to follow her to California for college, they grew closer. It didn’t take long for them to realize that they’d only fought as much as they had in childhood because of the pressures from their parents, and they were able to finally have a relationship.

He’d decided on a school in Sacramento after accepting a football scholarship which meant that he’d only been an hour and a half away. Jason visited often, and Thalia made the drive up for his games as often as she could. It had been nice to see them growing closer, and it had been just as nice to get to know Jason. 

Jason was a nice, genuine guy who was Thalia’s opposite in nearly every conceivable way. They shared similar features— bright blue eyes and high cheekbones and, technically, their golden blonde hair. Sure, everyone knew that Thalia dyed her hair religiously, but seeing Jason’s bright blonde made her wonder how Thalia might look if she ever grew it out. 

They bonded over a shared dislike of their parents (two people that Annabeth hoped that she never had to meet). Thalia, who had chosen the more direct route of teenage rebellion, had always assumed that Jason was as straight-laced as he was because he was sucking up to them, only to later learn that he had merely tried again and again in vain attempts to earn their approval. Now, with nearly twenty-five-hundred miles between them and the city they’d grown up in, they were free to build a relationship on their own terms.

To her surprise, Annabeth had found herself drawn to Jason from the start. They’d gotten along well and had a lot in common. What was even more surprising than that had been the way that Thalia seemed to encourage it. Their relationship had never advanced past the flirtation stage, but Annabeth still wondered from time to time, if things had been different, what they might’ve been. 

Jason had even managed to win Connor’s approval, a feat that was worthy of acknowledgement since Connor was notoriously picky about the company he kept. In the end, Annabeth almost regretted introducing the pair, since they’d almost immediately decided that teasing her was their favorite hobby. 

To put it simply, everyone loved Jason. When he’d landed in their lives, no one was entirely sure how he was going to fit in, but the worry had all been for naught. He was a nice person to have around, and Thalia was just happy to finally have a relationship with her brother after so many wasted years. 

Then, last spring, he’d been hit by a drunk driver on his way back to campus after visiting Thalia. Annabeth vividly remembered how Thalia had burst into her room at one o’clock in the morning, begging for a ride to the hospital since she was in no shape to drive herself. Annabeth had driven at least twenty over the speed limit the entire way to Fairfield, but they were too late. 

That night was seared into Annabeth’s memory forever. Thalia hadn’t even mentioned Jason since the funeral, and everyone tried their best to be respectful of that. She was heartbroken at the loss of the brother that she’d only just begun to get to know, mourning the eighteen years that had been wasted on stupid, useless fighting. Losing her friend had been painful enough; Annabeth, especially as an only child, couldn’t even begin to imagine the grief of losing her only sibling.

Thalia didn’t talk about Jason. 

No one really talked about Jason anymore.

“Percy was a year older than him, but they were in the same grade,” Thalia began slowly. That made sense to her— Percy had a summer birthday, same as she did, and she’d also started school a year late. She was always the oldest person in her class, with the exception of Connor, who’d had to repeat fourth grade. “I didn’t really know him, but I was busy with my own stuff back then.”

Annabeth knew the story and was able to fill in the blanks easily enough: Thalia had always avoided Jason because they fought any time they were in a room together for more than six seconds. She’d poured herself into her own hobbies, into clubs and activities that kept her out of the house as often as possible, while Jason studied and practiced and continued to try (in vain) to earn his parents’ love.

“The reason I even bring any of this up is because,” she bit her lip, pausing again, “I just think that you should know what he’s really like. And before you tell me you don’t need to hear this, I know that there’s no way you know— otherwise, you never would’ve agreed to go out with him.”

That sick feeling in her stomach returned with a vengeance. The way that Thalia was talking had her on edge but she tried to maintain a straight face and a calm expression. Annabeth pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, listening intently.

“Percy has a bad temper, Annabeth,” Thalia shook her head. That might have been a reasonably innocuous statement from anyone else, but when someone as short-fused and hot-headed as Thalia said it, it carried significantly more weight. “He’s prone to these outbursts and he gets violent. He got kicked out of, like, three different schools before he met Jason.” She still stumbled over the name but Annabeth didn’t call any attention to it. 

Strangely enough, that actually calmed her anxiety a bit. Was that what this was all about? That wasn’t exactly a groundbreaking revelation for Annabeth. She knew at least part of the story already, having heard it from Percy himself. She knew that he’d been a troubled kid and had been kicked out of school a few times, even though he’d been sort of vague about the exact reasons.

“I know,” Annabeth said, nodding slowly. “He told me about that.”

“Yeah?” Thalia looked up, her blue eyes intensely glaring into Annabeth’s. “Did he also tell you that he beat the shit out of my brother?” Her face must have reflected the shock that she felt because Thalia’s frown returned a moment later. “I guess he left that part out, huh.”

“What are you talking about?” Annabeth asked, her arms tightening instinctively around her legs, bracing herself for the worst. “What happened, Thalia?”

“Jason constantly tried to keep Percy out of trouble. I mean, you knew him— he was just that kind of guy,” Thalia answered, her voice practically dripping with emotion. “Even when they were in middle-school, he stepped in and mediated and usually managed to calm Percy down enough to avoid a fight, or at least he was there to break it up if he failed to stop it. They were only in eighth grade at the time but you know that neither of them were exactly small guys. And these kids, they were maybe thirteen at best, and even then they were kind of small for their age,” Thalia said, as if she remembered it like it had happened just last week. “And I don’t know what happened, really — like, I don’t know what happened that set him off — but Percy went after them. And Jason tried to step in but it wasn’t working.”

Thalia’s voice cracked and Annabeth felt her throat tighten. “Jason shoved him to try and get his attention off of the kids. I think he thought that maybe it would snap him out of it, but he just turned on Jason instead.” She looked away for the first time since she’d begun telling the story, staring at her lap again. “He spent the night in the hospital. He had a concussion and a bunch of stitches and his face was so swollen that I barely even recognized him when dad brought him home. Percy got kicked out of school and we never saw him again. I didn’t find out he’d moved out here until Jason said something about it last year.”

Annabeth was silent, trying and failing to will away the nausea she could feel all the way in her throat. It didn’t seem possible that Percy could’ve done something so horrific— not the Percy she knew, anyway. 

But then again, how much did she really know about him? 

He was avoidant, often deflecting questions that he didn’t want to answer, as she’d noticed on multiple occasions. He wasn’t exactly slow-to-anger, and maybe she’d written that off as a side-effect of their strange predicament, but it seemed even more glaringly obvious now. She remembered how he’d turned on her at dinner that first night, talking over her and refusing to let her explain herself. She thought about the mysterious bruising she’d noticed on his knuckles a few weeks ago. Mostly she thought about the fact that Jason had been someone that she’d cared deeply for, and that Thalia had absolutely no reason to lie to her.

“I guess I can’t really say that I know what he’s like now,” Thalia said after a solid minute of heavy silence, “but I know that he wasn’t a good person back then. I just thought that you deserved to know that. I couldn’t not tell you— I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something happened.”

If something happened. As in, if Percy turned on her. She was, admittedly, stronger than the average twenty-one year old woman, but she wouldn’t stand a chance against someone Percy’s size if he really got it in his head that he wanted to hurt her. The thought felt bizarre to entertain given the experiences that she’d had with him so far.

But Annabeth knew a thing or two about abusers, too. She knew how easily they were able to manipulate the people around them to earn trust, building a façade so impenetrable that any claim against their character would fall to doubt. Percy didn’t seem like the type to be aggressive, but then again, most people didn’t on the surface.

“Thank you for telling me,” she managed, her mouth completely dry. “I know that wasn't easy for you.”

Thalia nodded, still staring at her hands. “Just… Promise me that you’ll be careful. And if you get any sort of bad feeling—”

“I will,” Annabeth assured her. She didn’t know exactly what she was going to do with the information that Thalia had just given her, but she appreciated the concern nonetheless. The pit in her stomach hadn’t faded in the slightest, however, mainly because she knew that her life had (somehow) only managed to become even more complicated in the last six hours.

She didn’t know what she was going to do about Percy, either. On one hand, she felt like she owed it to Thalia (and to Jason) to heed the warning and put some distance between them. On the other, she’d signed a contract saying that she’d do just the opposite. No matter what she did, she was going to misstep. 

“I want you to know that I believe you and I’m not making light of what you’ve told me,” she said after a moment of deliberation, trying to choose her words carefully. “Percy… he hasn’t given me any reason to think that he’s dangerous, but I promise that I’ll be careful. I know that he’s been through a lot and that doesn’t excuse any of the mistakes he’s made but… I don’t know, Thals. He seems different. It was a long time ago— maybe he’s changed.”

God, she hated how that sounded coming out of her mouth. It was the kind of thing that Annabeth saw women saying in movies while she sat on the couch calling the character an idiot for buying the man's lies, feeling a bit of smug satisfaction when she was right in the end. Finding herself in the same position felt disturbingly surreal.

Thalia sighed. “Yeah, I figured you’d say that,” she said. “It’s okay. I didn’t come in here to try and break you guys up or anything— I just wanted you to know.”

“I sort of thought that maybe something was going on,” Annabeth admitted. “He was acting kind of weird after he realized that the roommate we were there to see was you. And then he had me ride back with Hazel and Katie— which I guess was probably so he could avoid being alone with me and having to answer my questions.”

She’d noticed his weird behavior even if she hadn’t understood it at the time, and now she wondered what his plan had been. Maybe he’d held off her questions for the night, but surely he knew that she’d find out eventually. Surely he assumed that Thalia would tell her the truth. 

“Like I said,” Thalia said, trying to force a soft smile, “I just wanted you to know. I just want you to be happy, Annabeth.”

“I know,” Annabeth said, already moving forward to wrap her arms around Thalia. She wasn’t one for reciprocating hugs, so when Thalia’s arms tightened around Annabeth’s torso, the weight of their conversation felt even more severe. “If he tries anything, will you help me hide the body?”

Annabeth could feel Thalia’s shoulders shake with a laugh. “If he lays a finger on you, there won’t be a body left to hide when I’m through with him.”

- 

Connor, as usual, answered on the first ring. “Well, well, well,” he said with a cocky laugh. “If it isn’t the future Mrs. Jackson.”

“Shut up,” she said, her voice flat. “This is serious.”

“What? Second date was a flop?” Connor laughed, still not picking up on her tone. 

“Can you just listen?” Annabeth sighed, exasperated. 

That seemed to work. The humor was gone from his voice in an instant, replaced with concern. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m fine,” she shook her head. That assessment wasn’t entirely true. She definitely wasn’t fine, but in terms of answering his question and quelling his anxieties, she was technically okay. 

She rose to her feet to close her bedroom door. Thalia had disappeared into her own room nearly twenty minutes ago and was probably fast asleep by that point, but she still didn’t want to risk it. She’d managed to make it through their conversation about Jason without breaking, and Annabeth wasn’t about to push her luck. 

When she made it back to her bed, she flopped onto the mattress. Her words came out in what must have sounded like one endless, rambling stream as she recounted Percy’s strange behavior at the bar, the way he’d pawned her off on her friends, and the conversation with Thalia once she’d returned home. Connor was silent the entire time. If she hadn’t known better, she might’ve thought he’d set the phone down and walked away. 

“I don’t know what to do,” she said, hating how brittle her words sounded.

He was quiet for a few more seconds, so quiet that she could hear the sound of the styrofoam beads in his stupid bean bag chair as he apparently adjusted his position in his seat. “Do you want my honest opinion?”

“No, Connor, I want you to lie to me,” she half-groaned. “Why in the hell would I call you if I didn’t want you to be honest with me?”

“I’m just asking because I don’t think you’re going to like what I have to say,” he admitted. When she didn’t offer any sort of reply, he sighed. “Honestly, Chase, I think you should just talk to him.”

“What?” she balked, sitting up straight as if that would help her hear him better. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” Connor confirmed. “Get ahead of this before you spiral into some pit of anxiety and ruin this whole thing. It sounds like he knew that Thalia was going to talk to you so it’s probably not going to shock him if you call. But Thalia got to tell you her side— don’t you think Percy deserves to share his, too?”

Annabeth felt truly speechless. Connor, who was usually too goofy and hard-headed to take anything very seriously, occasionally had a flash of clarity so bright that it was blinding. This was one of those moments. “You’re right,” she sighed. 

“Of course I am,” he said, and she could hear the warm smile in his voice. “Look, if things get weird, you call me, okay? I’ll steal Chris’s car if I have to.”

The mental image of Connor trying to fend Percy off was almost comical, and she might’ve even laughed if she weren’t so on edge. “I will,” she promised. “I’m going to text him now.”

“Okay,” Connor said. “If you need me after, just let me know.”

“I will,” she said again. “Goodnight.”

“‘Night, Chase. Love you.”

-

In the end, she chickened out. She couldn’t make herself call him and instead spent half an hour pacing with her phone glued to her hand. Finally, she typed out a text message instead.

1:22 AM - ANNABETH:
We need to talk.

1:22 AM - PERCY J:
I know.

The response was almost immediate, like he’d been staring at his phone and expecting her message— and if he had, she couldn’t begin to imagine what the past hour had been like while he’d been waiting for her to reach out. Connor had obviously been right in that it definitely seemed as though Percy knew that Thalia was going to talk to her, and that he knew she’d have questions for him, too.

1:23 AM - PERCY J:
Skip brunch with Connor
tomorrow

1:25 AM - ANNABETH:
Why

1:25 AM - PERCY J:
So we can talk. I want
to show you something

1:29 AM - PERCY J:
Please just let me talk to you
before you shut me out

1:32 AM - ANNABETH:
Fine. Pick me up at ten.

1:33 AM - PERCY J:
I’ll be there

1:35 AM - PERCY J:
I’m sorry Annabeth.

Annabeth stared at those last three words until she finally drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 112

It was a nice, cool Sunday morning. Annabeth opened her bedroom window in an attempt to air out what felt like tangible, pent-up tension as she got dressed. With the street noise filtering in, she wasn’t especially surprised to hear the motorcycle pulling up to the building— but she was a bit surprised that it was nearly twenty minutes earlier than their agreed upon meeting time. She pulled on canvas sneakers, grabbing a light jacket as she made her way down to the parking lot.

She also wasn’t surprised to find him sitting on the bike with her helmet in his hands as she approached. He hadn’t even bothered removing his when he’d stopped, holding the white headgear out for her wordlessly. She took it, fastening the chinstrap before sliding into the space behind him. 

They rode in silence.

Probably she should’ve been more concerned about that— about the way his usually warm greetings weren’t being employed this morning, or about the fact that neither of them had spoken a word to each other since he’d left her at the bar the night before. Probably she should’ve been more bothered by the way she’d nearly grown used to the pit in her stomach. But none of those things had been enough to sway her resolve to take Connor’s advice and allow Percy the chance to explain himself, if such a thing were even possible.

Fifteen minutes later they were parking the bike at the visitor’s lot of a trailhead she’d hiked at least a dozen times in her life. She was positive that the confusion showed in her face as she dismounted and handed the helmet to him, but he merely shook his head. 

“Ten minute walk,” he said simply, storing the helmets and starting off in the direction of the trail before she could even respond. Percy kept his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie, mouth pressed into a tight line as they walked.

It wouldn’t be totally fair to call it a hike, but she was glad that she’d thought to wear sneakers, at least. They walked the mostly familiar path toward the water and she was fairly certain that she knew where he was leading her. Until, that was, they reached the steps down to Mile Rock Beach (the point that Annabeth had assumed to be their destination) and continued toward a side path that she had never been down before. 

The breeze picked up now that they were closer to the shore, salty air filling her lungs. The trail finally opened up and she realized where they were. Percy came to a stop at the edge of the cliff face, sitting down on a flat ledge and making a space for her beside him. His feet were planted in front of him, knees bent as he stared out over the water toward the Golden Gate Bridge.

At the base of the short cliff, maybe thirty feet below their perch, a rock formation had been assembled— a maze of winding, circular lines made up by stones of various shapes, sizes, and colors that came together to create an intricate piece of art to mark the end of the trail. 

She’d heard of the place, knew that it was there, but had never actually been there herself. Usually, when she’d made this trek on her own, she'd been on a mission to take in a hazy sunset at the beach below the cliffs and had simply never bothered to journey up this far. It was peaceful with the waves crashing on the rocks, and there was only one other person nearby, walking about the stone paths below.

Finally, she sat down beside him, stretching her legs out in front of her and crossing her ankles as she rested back on her palms. “The Labyrinth,” she noted, looking down at the formation below.

After a moment, he swallowed, then nodded as he slumped forward and wrapped his arms loosely over his legs. “My mom brought me out here when we first moved to San Francisco,” Percy explained. “She sat on this rock with me and we watched the sunset and she told me that things had to be different here.”

Annabeth took a careful breath, steadying herself for whatever he had to say. Having realized the night before (after his immediate response to her text message) that he must have known what Thalia had told her, she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. 

It was quiet for another minute. Finally, he dropped his head, eyes closing as he rubbed his forehead. “God, I thought I’d know what to say when we got here.” He swallowed again. “I don’t want to make excuses because there aren’t any. I just want you to have the whole story before you decide to shut me out.”

“I followed you all the way out here, Percy,” she said. “I came to listen.”

After a few seconds, he nodded, exhaling a long breath before he lifted his head and spoke again. “I guess I get my temper from my dad— at least, that’s what my mom says, and since I’ve hardly ever seen her even raise her voice, I have to believe it.” Percy stared at his knees. “I told you before how we moved when my step-dad died, because my mom wanted a fresh start, right?” he asked, glancing in her direction briefly. She nodded and he looked down again. “There was a little more to it than that.”

That much went without saying, or at least she thought it did. Given all that she’d learned in the last twelve hours and how it had altered her view of him, it seemed like an understatement.

But this was his story, and he had to tell it in his way.

“My mom married Gabe when I was in kindergarten and he was awesome for about two weeks before our world completely flipped upside down. He was an alcoholic, and he always got really mad when he’d drink,” Percy said, his voice thick with resentment. “And when he got mad, he got violent. He’d hit my mom. A lot. When I got older, I’d try to step in, but it rarely helped. He’d get distracted for a few minutes, but once he was tired of fighting with me, he’d turn right back to her.”

His voice was as even as she imagined it could have been, steady as he recounted the details. “I— I felt really helpless because I wasn’t able to stand up for myself or protect my mom,” he explained, “and I guess I just picked on the smaller kids at school because I knew I could win. I wanted other people to know what I was feeling: always being backed into a corner by someone I couldn’t fight off. I never hurt anyone I cared about, though, and in my head, I guess I felt like that made it better— at least, not as bad as he was, anyway.”

The unspoken question hung in the air, but Annabeth just listened and waited. Waves continued to crash below them, the sound of seagulls calling to each other as they swooped about the spray filling the silence.

“‘Til I put my best friend in the hospital,” Percy said, guilt dripping in his words. “Jason was the only person that ever looked out for me and I—” His voice caught, his brow creasing deeply as he swallowed hard. It was obvious that this wasn’t something he liked to think about, much less talk about. “I just snapped. And then I realized I wasn’t any better than Gabe.”

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, noticing the contorted, pained expression on his face. There was a part of her that wanted to press him more about the fight with Jason but he was so obviously distressed that she couldn’t bring herself to do it. 

“I don’t really even remember most of it— pretty much just Jason’s dad coming to talk to my mom, and her and Gabe fighting more than ever.” He looked over at Annabeth, biting the inside of his cheek. “I got expelled and had to finish the year online and meet with a counselor every week. Then Gabe died a few months after that— and honestly, it was the best thing he ever did for us.”

“What happened?” Annabeth asked, inserting her voice for the first time since he’d begun telling the story.

“Heart attack, allegedly,” he answered. “My mom moved us out here to start over, and like I said, she told me things had to be different. She told me I had to be better.”

“You didn’t get kicked out of any more schools,” she said thoughtfully. 

“Counseling seemed to help a lot, so when we moved, my therapist connected us with someone out here. My mom and I both went for a long time, together and separately.” He sighed, a hint of defeat in his tone before he turned his attention to her. “She hasn’t gone in years but I still do— that’s why I can’t see you on Tuesdays.”

Annabeth felt her eyebrows raise in surprise. That, somehow, hadn’t been the thing she’d been expecting him to say. Truthfully, she hadn’t really thought much about it since the first time he’d mentioned that Tuesdays weren’t good for him, but looking back, it did seem that he was usually more avoidant on those days than on others. 

“It brings up a lot of stuff I don’t like thinking about,” he admitted, “but it helps. The therapist I saw back in New York mostly just talked to me about controlling my temper and convinced my mom that I needed to be in a sport. We chose swimming because it was something I was already good at and it was competitive enough for me to use it as an outlet, but it was sort of a one-man thing. If I lose a race, I can only really be mad at myself. It was a good practice of learning to be more… patient, I think.

"Even after we moved, it was like that for a long time— a sort of softball approach to everything. He would come up with outlets and metaphors and never really talked about exactly what had happened or how it had affected me. When I got older — when he decided I was ready to hear the actual terms for things, I guess — we talked more about how it was really common for kids in abusive situations to have anger issues. I was just part of a really fucked up aggression cycle: Gabe would beat the shit out of me and my mom and I’d feel like there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it, so I was violently defensive of myself whenever I felt like I could fight back,” he said, staring out at the water. “Removing Gabe from the equation didn’t fix everything, but it did help a lot.”

Annabeth let the weight of the explanation rest in the silence that followed. She knew that she could very easily choose not to believe him if she wanted to, but she couldn’t see any reason why he’d lie. He’d owned up to all the bad. She still had a hard time imagining the person that sat next to her now could be capable of the things that Thalia had told her, but she was also acutely familiar with how deceptive looks could be.

“I still get worked up pretty easily. That part doesn’t really go away,” Percy said, his voice sounding too soft to go with the depth of the words that he was saying. “I figure that’s probably what Thalia’s worried about, and I guess I can’t really blame her for that. But I’m not the angry, helpless little kid I was when she knew me; I’ve changed a lot. It’s not that it’s not there, but controlling it isn’t as much of a struggle for me anymore.”

That much she, for whatever reason, believed without question. The tiny, analytical voice in her mind was begging her to take a step back and consider that he could just be feeding her what he knew she’d want to hear; that she shouldn’t be so willing to buy his explanation. She tried to find cracks in his story, looking for places where the reasoning seemed thin and pressing a finger into the spot to test it, but all that she’d heard made sense. 

Percy hadn’t had an easy life. She’d known that, to a much lesser extent, well before that morning. He had only given her glimpses into his past up to that point, but now, she understood why that was. Past failures and mistakes weren’t usually at the top of anyone's resume. Even though she wanted to take issue with him, she couldn’t really find it in herself to blame him for not telling her sooner— probably it would’ve been easier on both of them if he’d been able to tell her in his own way and in his own time, but it wasn’t entirely his fault that she’d found out in the way that she had. 

“I wasn’t trying to hide it from you or anything,” he sighed, almost as if he’d read her mind. “I just… I’m not exactly proud of that part of my life. It’s not really the kind of story I like to broadcast to people.”

“I understand,” Annabeth said after a minute, wishing he knew just how much she really did understand that sentiment. “I think we’ve all got things that we’d prefer to keep buried, you know? Everyone has moments that they wouldn’t want in the highlight reel.”

She felt, more than saw, his gaze shift to her. He'd been mostly risking only quick glances in her direction before he pulled his eyes away again, but this time, they lingered. “Yeah.”

Annabeth knew what liars were capable of. How they could twist anything to make it fit their needs, to make anyone believe their stories. She knew how they always seemed to know just what to say to get you to sympathize with them. 

But she also knew that those people didn’t act like this. They didn’t bare their souls or take responsibility. They didn’t express remorse or shame or even embarrassment. They didn’t look at you like they were afraid they’d just ruined everything, the way he was looking at her now.

She met his eyes, deep and searching as they connected with hers. “Can I ask you a couple of questions?” He barely even paused before he nodded. “When was the last time?”

“That I got in a fight?” Percy asked, and she confirmed his assumption with a quick tilt of her head. “Jason.”

That, somehow, surprised her more than anything else he’d told her. For him to have been as explosive as Thalia had made him seem, as hurt and angry as he himself had confessed to being, she would’ve expected that there had been at least isolated instances— a handful of run-ins or altercations over the years. She certainly hadn’t been expecting him to tell her that he hadn’t been in a fight since he’d lived in New York. 

“What about your knuckles?” Annabeth asked, gesturing to his hands. The bruises she’d noticed that first week were long gone now, but she knew that he was aware she’d noticed. “How did that happen?”

“Boxing,” he answered automatically. “I go to a boxing gym a few times a week. Sometimes I don’t wear gloves.”

It was such a simple explanation that she almost laughed. There’s no way she would admit to it, but she had spent a fair amount of time considering the worst case scenario for the origins or the mysterious bruises she’d noticed that night, especially in the last twelve hours, only to now learn that the answer was completely innocuous. 

“The night you’re thinking of?” he continued when she didn’t reply. “I was really pissed off about the whole picture situation— how you were getting treated, how stupid it was of me not to talk to you about it first. I was upset and mad at myself and I just went a little too hard.” 

“So you box now, instead of fighting,” she said, more to herself than to him. “And that helps?”

“Very much,” he said, and there was almost a hint of a smile. 

Annabeth thought about that for a moment. She thought about when she’d still worked at the café, mornings when the customers had been especially heinous or the rush had simply worn her nerves thin. She thought about how much she looked forward to practice on those days, grateful for the opportunity to channel some of her restless energy into an outlet. About how much better she always felt after she’d slammed a few dozen volleyballs into the sand. 

“I get that.”

It was quiet for several minutes as they both looked out over the water. A few more tourists had come down the path and she and Percy watched as they made their way through the winding rock formation below. He had relaxed so much since they’d first arrived, and she wasn’t entirely sure if it was from getting the weight off of his chest, or if this place really was something kind of special for him. 

“You don’t drink,” she noted after a while. It was a detail that she hadn’t paid much mind to until he’d told her about his step-father.

He shook his head. “I don’t drink.” 

“I guess that’s because of Gabe?” Annabeth asked. 

“No,” he frowned. Percy looked down at his feet. “It’s because of me. Because I know that mixing alcohol and anger is like throwing gas on a fire and I’m not really interested in making my life or anyone else’s any harder than it has to be.”

What she didn’t say (what she wanted to say) was that he had learned that from his experience growing up with an angry alcoholic— that he should be proud of his decision to abstain, not belittling himself for knowing it would be toxic because of his temper. He was punishing himself for something that he hadn’t done, something that he was actually taking measured steps to avoid. She wanted to assure him that she acknowledged the gravity of that personal creed, but words didn’t come. They danced in her mind, refusing to assemble themselves into any semblance of logical order. So instead, she threw her words away altogether. 

When her world was a mess, when things felt out of control, all she ever wanted was for someone to be there. Just a simple touch, a warm hand that reminded her she wasn’t alone. So she did what she knew how to do: she leaned over, her left shoulder butting against the outside of his right arm gently.

He exhaled, his shoulders relaxing. She felt him lean into her as well, their arms pressing together as they sat in silence. 

“I would’ve told you,” he said carefully after several minutes. “I wanted to tell you. I just didn’t know how.”

“I know.”

She didn’t know why she said it — she had no way of knowing whether it was true or not, only a strong feeling in her gut that told her it was — but the way he dropped his head told her that it hadn’t been the grace that he’d expected. 

“I’m sorry.”

She nodded. “I know.”

-

By the time they’d returned to her apartment, the cool morning had shifted into a much warmer afternoon. She felt better than she’d expected that she would, but still incredibly mixed up. There was a lot to think about— not the least of which being that he was still practically a stranger to her. And even though it had been nearly ten years, even though he seemed genuinely repentant, even though she had chosen to believe that he wasn’t that person anymore, the fact remained that he had hurt someone that she had loved. And that was a big, dry pill that was sticking to the side of her throat in an uncomfortable way. 

She was trying to wrap her mind around it all and coming up short. It was hard for her to imagine that the Percy she knew (the current person who seemed to be well-aware that he was a work-in-progress) and the Jason she'd known could have been so close when they were younger. Annabeth missed Jason more than she knew how to say, mostly because it had never felt like her place to openly mourn for the person she'd only known for such a brief time, especially when Thalia was so close. And now, the knowledge that Percy had not only known Jason — her incredible, generous, kind-hearted friend, and a symbol of so much good — but had caused him harm, no matter the circumstances, hurt.

It would fade, she was confident about that. But for now, it lingered.

Annabeth slid off of the seat when they came to a stop, pulling her helmet off of her head. He did the same, stowing her helmet and sitting back down on the seat of the bike before he removed his own. They stared at each other in silence for what felt like several minutes, though it was probably only about thirty seconds in actuality. 

“I think I need a little time,” she said after another moment, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “I appreciate you being honest with me, but Jason… Percy, Jason was really important to me and I just need to process all of this—”

“It’s okay,” he assured her. He didn’t look the least bit bothered or offended. “I understand.”

“I have a tournament in Atlanta in a couple of weeks, so I’m going to be pretty busy ‘til then anyway. But I’ll call you after I get back,” she promised. “Until then, we should probably just tell people that our schedules haven’t been lining up or whatever and take some time for ourselves.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “If that’s what you want to do.”

Annabeth looked down at her feet for a long moment, rocking on her heels as he settled back onto the seat of the motorcycle. When she looked up, he was staring at the top of his helmet that was still in his lap, face unreadable.

“Percy,” she said, waiting until he looked up at her before she continued. The contrition in his eyes was almost palpable. “I don’t know if this will make it better or worse... but I just want you to know that I’m— I’m not, like, scared of you or anything like that. I don’t want you to think that’s what this is about.”

He stared back and she got the feeling that she hadn’t been far off the mark in her assumption. Percy nodded once. “Thank you.”

She nodded in return before she took a step backwards, slowly beginning to make her way toward her building. “So, I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah,” he said, something a little mournful in his tone. “See you.”

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 100

Even as her feet pounded a steady beat on the belt of the treadmill, Annabeth’s mind was back on that cliffside at Land’s End. She could almost hear the waves crashing, thinking about that morning last weekend when she’d sat with Percy wishing with her entire heart that she’d known what to say. 

That had been almost two weeks ago now.

With some space between them, she’d had time to think about both sides of the story. There were a lot of reasons that Thalia’s bias had come on so strongly: her love for her lost brother, her concern for one of her best friends, her unrelenting ability to hold a grudge. And as stupid as Annabeth had initially felt for actually believing that Percy might have changed, she was beginning to realize that she didn’t have any reason to suspect otherwise. 

She wanted to be angry, really she did— but the more she thought about it, the less angry she was. 

It would be easy, she thought, to stay mad. In reality, she could probably have spent hours festering on what had happened all those years ago, or living with a quiet nervousness about what might happen in the future. However, it really only took an afternoon for her to come to the conclusion that her fears were less intense because of the boundary that only she and Percy knew about. Her ability to compartmentalize this person she was beginning to get to know apart from the boy that Thalia had once known came from the knowledge that she was not actually in a relationship with him, that the emotional manipulation that Thalia was concerned about — the kind of attachment that so often formed in a romantic, dependent relationship — was not a realistic concern here.

Her role in his life was transient, as his was in hers, and when they’d fulfilled their obligations, they could part ways. For now, he seemed to be worthy of her trust, however shallow it might be. And if Percy’s temper were to become a problem again someday, it wouldn’t be her issue to deal with. She suspected she’d barely even be a memory to him at that point. 

What was bothering her more than anything was how badly she’d wanted to comfort him. How she’d leaned into his side that day, offering the only affection that she knew how to give, and tried to reassure him that she’d heard the sincerity in his confession. She’d gone to the cliffs with him that morning thinking that he would deny it, make excuses, or try to explain away the severity of what had happened back in New York— but he hadn’t done that at all. 

Percy had, from the start, accepted responsibility for his actions. He expressed remorse, he explained how hard he’d worked for the past eight years to be better, and he’d seemed genuine as he did it. She wanted to be mad, but instead, she’d walked away feeling sated. 

He had respected her request for space since then. She hadn’t heard from him since he’d left her apartment that morning, and the fact that the absence of him made her a little sad wasn’t lost on her. Thankfully, between work and school and rigorous training, she hadn’t had too much time to dwell on it. 

“Pick up the pace,” Hedge criticized, stepping toward the machine and bumping up the speed to a slightly strenuous pace. “You too, McLean— don’t make me come over there.” Piper groaned, but Annabeth heard the electric beep of the control panel followed by the sound of the belt picking up speed and her steps hitting at a faster rate than before. “That’s better. Give me three minutes at this pace and we’ll move on.”

Three minutes, in the grand scheme, was not a very long time. Three minutes on a treadmill that was moving about twenty-percent faster than was really comfortable felt like an eternity. When the time was up, both Annabeth and Piper slammed their hands on the button to stop the belt, stepping off of the machines. It wasn’t that they didn’t regularly run as part of their workouts, because of course they did— but Coach Hedge had been on a rampage the past week, and her legs were already begging for mercy well before he’d decided that they needed to end their cardio session with a three minute sprint. 

“Suck it up, cupcakes,” he said, reaching out an arm and pulling Piper to her feet despite her groaning. Annabeth dragged herself into a standing position before Coach could do it for her, tightening her ponytail as she caught her breath. “We’re working legs today.”

“Legs? Again?” Piper asked, voicing the question in Annabeth’s mind. “Coach—”

“Hey! When did you two become whiners?” he interrupted. “Let’s go! Move over to the weights.” 

The Atlanta tournament was still almost a week away, but at the rate Hedge was working them, Annabeth wasn’t sure she was going to live long enough to get there.

-

Annabeth’s favorite thing about the Aegis was a simple one, something that most people probably never even thought about: the locker rooms. The room itself wasn’t really anything special. The Aegis was a premiere private facility, so it was cleaner than most locker rooms probably were and the showers were leaps and bounds better than the ones at the facility she’d trained at growing up, but the thing that she really appreciated were the locks. 

Both of the changing rooms at the Aegis Center were behind locked doors equipped with keypads that required an individualized pin to open, and a system in the front office kept track of who came and went. They had been installed as a deterrent against theft and improper use of the facilities, but it also served to ensure that no one entered the locker rooms that didn’t have a reason to be there. 

Piper thought she was paranoid— she could afford to think it was an overreaction. Annabeth knew better. 

She was still brushing through her damp hair when Piper closed her locker. “What are you doing this weekend?” she asked, dropping the plastic bag containing her dirty practice clothes into her backpack. 

“I think Connor and I might go out Saturday night,” Annabeth answered, meeting Piper’s eye in the mirror on the back of her locker. “There’s this new superhero movie he’s been dying to see, and I haven’t really been spending much time with him lately. I feel kind of bad about ignoring him.”

“Sure,” Piper nodded. She hesitated for a moment before she spoke again. “Do you mind if I ask— Like, you and Connor—”

“Oh, no,” Annabeth shook her head. She was so used to the assumption that she didn’t even balk anymore. “We did date, once, a long time ago. But we’re just friends now.”

“I just assumed,” she shrugged. “You talk about him a lot. He's cute.”

“It’s okay, everyone assumes it’s more than it is,” Annabeth laughed, setting her brush back into the locker. “What about you? Any big plans?”

“I was supposed to have a date but I’m not counting on it,” she shrugged. “They’ve been kind of flaky. If it happens, it happens. If not, I’ll order takeout.”

“You should add that to your dating profile,” Annabeth teased. “I bet you’d land a lot more dates."

“I think I’m more likely to end up having a date with a hot bath and a bottle of ibuprofen,” Piper joked, pulling her backpack onto her shoulder. “I think Hedge is trying to kill us.”

“He’s just working us hard because he’s planning to go easy next week before we leave,” she explained. When Piper raised an eyebrow, Annabeth smirked. “I looked at his clipboard while he was critiquing your burpee form.” 

“Well,” Piper said, a smile coming to her lips, “that’s something to look forward to at least.”

“No kidding,” she muttered, closing her own locker and gathering the rest of her belongings into her duffel bag. Piper waited for her to round up her things before they both walked out of the locker room together. 

“Chase! McLean!”

They turned, watching as Hedge jogged over to them (comically slow for someone so judgmental of Annabeth and Piper’s running performance earlier). Both she and Piper had a full four inches on Hedge, but his personality more than made up for his short stature. 

“Great job today,” he beamed, looking genuinely proud. “No practice tomorrow. Enjoy your weekend off and be ready to hit it hard on Monday.”

“Really?” Piper asked. 

“Don’t make a big deal of this,” Hedge said, pointing a finger at her as a warning. “And don’t get used to it. But you’ve both put in great work this week, and I think you’ve earned a break.”

Annabeth and Piper exchanged a look of surprise. In the two and a half years they’d been training together, Hedge had only canceled practice one other time, and only because his wife had gone into labor. To be such a hardass, Hedge was an unbelievably soft man when it came to his family, and she was almost positive that this leniency had to have something to do with his son. 

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with it being Chuck’s birthday, would it?” Annabeth smirked.

The red flush that spread across his face answered her question. “Don’t make me change my mind, Chase.”

“You got it, Coach,” Piper laughed, looping her arm through Annabeth’s and half-dragging her toward the doors. “Have fun.”

“See you Monday,” he called after them, his voice returning to it’s usual commanding tone in an attempt to save face. “Get some rest— you’re gonna need it!”

They laughed as they made their way out to the parking lot and Piper mused about what she might do with her extra free time. Annabeth had already decided to skip her Pilates class and was practically drooling at the thought of getting to sleep in. She’d probably spend the afternoon catching up on homework before the movie, and truthfully, even that sounded alright in lieu of their canceled practice.

“Hey,” Piper said, just as Annabeth turned to walk to the other end of the lot. “Do you have plans tonight?” 

“Yeah,” Annabeth sighed. “I told Dee I’d cover the night shift.”

Piper frowned. “Didn’t you have the breakfast shift this morning?”

“She would’ve offered it to someone else,” she nodded, “but she knows I could use the money with the tournament coming up and everything.”

“I get it,” Piper said, looking a little deflated. “Well, I hope it’s a slow night, at least.”

“Me too,” Annabeth grinned, waving over her shoulder. “See you Monday.” 

“See you.”

-

It was not a slow night.

Annabeth was absolutely dead on her feet by the time the early birds cleared out around seven-thirty. The only silver lining was that the patrons that usually showed up later in the evening (especially on Fridays) were typically a younger crowd, and they were almost always more understanding than the older customers. 

There was a lull, a moment where she was able to catch her breath and clear off tables in preparation for the waves of college kids in various stages of inebriation that would filter in and out between then and closing time, and she took full advantage of it. Between herself and Medea, they managed to get the dining room reset and ready for the rest of the night in only a few minutes. 

The customers came through at a steady but easy pace, keeping them busy but not too overwhelmed, and the first half of her shift seemed to pass by in a flash. By the time nine o’clock rolled around, the diner was practically empty. It was the calm before the storm, she knew, but she was relishing in the quiet for now. 

“Here’s that to-go order,” Grover called, setting two styrofoam containers in the pass-thru window. 

Annabeth turned around, giving him a strange look. “There’s no one waiting for a carryout order.”

“They called it in,” Medea said, taking the boxes and moving them to the counter. She grabbed the ticket and read over it before she began to inspect the order for accuracy— an omelet with bacon in the top box, a short stack of blueberry pancakes in the other. Recognition was still washing over her when she heard the bell on the door. 

“Hey, Annabeth,” Frank beamed, waving as he walked over. “Here to pick-up an order?”

“Right here, hon,” Medea said, gently packing the two containers into a paper bag before she slid it across the counter. She gestured to Annabeth. “She’ll ring you up.”

Annabeth stepped to the register, pulling up the ticket as Medea walked back into the kitchen. “How’s your night going?” she asked, tapping the screen. The order had, as she’d expected, been called in under Percy’s name. 

“Not too bad. We just saw that new Marvel movie,” he answered, sliding onto the barstool. 

“Oh, I’m going to see that tomorrow, I think,” she nodded. “How was it?”

“It was pretty good,” Frank answered. He eyed her with a strange look as he handed her the credit card. “Hey, it’s none of my business, I know, but… are you guys okay?”

Her hands froze. “Why do you say that?”

“Like, I don’t know,” Frank shrugged. “He’s been home a lot more than usual, he hasn’t really said anything about you guys having any plans or anything. And he’s been in kind of a weird mood for the past week or so.”

It was probably stupid of her to be so caught off guard, but until that moment, Annabeth had assumed that Frank knew the truth about their situation, the same way that Connor did. She hadn’t expected Percy to lie to his best friend, but it was apparent that he had done just that. 

“Yeah,” she nodded, trying to keep her expression neutral as she inserted the card and closed out the ticket. “Yeah, we’re fine. We’ve both just been so busy— and I’ve got this really important tournament next week so I’ve been spending a lot more time in the gym lately.”

“Right,” he nodded, seeming to accept that answer without much resistance. “Well, I know he misses you, anyway. He’s been intolerably bitter.”

Annabeth looked up, meeting his gaze.

“Look, please don’t tell him that I said anything,” Frank added. “He’d be pissed if he knew I’d told you how much he’s been moping.” 

Every new sentence out of his mouth seemed heavier than the one before it. Annabeth knew she must look like a fish, standing there with a blank stare and her mouth half opened, but she couldn’t find words to respond. The register beeped angrily at the card being left in the slot for too long, breaking her frozen state. 

She handed the card back to him, along with the receipt. “I won’t say anything,” she promised, not bothering to add that it wouldn’t have been an issue anyway, seeing as they weren’t speaking at the moment. 

“Thanks, Annabeth,” Frank nodded, sliding both the card and the receipt into his pocket as he gripped the top of the bag. “Hope you have a good night.”

“Yeah,” she said, still feeling dumbstruck as Frank took the bag and walked back toward the door. “You too.”

The bell over the door had barely stilled when Grover chimed in. “What was that about?”

Annabeth turned around to see Grover leaning against the window, his arms folded and resting on the stainless steel shelf. She didn’t have the slightest idea what Grover knew about the situation, but if even Frank had been given the fake story, she imagined that he had, too. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, sorry,” he said, feigning remorse, “am I supposed to pretend like I don’t know what’s going on? Since you didn’t feel the need to tell me you’re going out with one of my oldest friends?”

Annabeth sighed. “It’s still really new.” She wondered when that excuse would stop working. 

“Right,” Grover nodded. “Hey, if you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s fine. I just thought I might be able to help. We don't really hang out too much these days, but I still know him pretty well, you know.” 

“Grov, it’s not like that,” she shook her head. “We’re fine, really. Our schedules have just been a mess lately and we haven’t had a lot of time for each other.”

Grover seemed to consider that for a moment. “If you say so.” 

“Annabeth,” Medea interrupted, coming back through the door with the phone tucked under her ear, “we’ve got a 10-top coming in fifteen— can you push the big tables together?”

“On it, Dee,” Annabeth nodded, giving Grover a shrug and Medea continued to hurry around behind the counter, muttering into the phone. “I promise— everything is fine.”

(It wasn’t, but it wouldn’t do anyone any good to tell him that.)

Grover only shrugged, pushing off from the window and turning back to the grill. 

The 10-top ended up being a rowdy group of college kids from Tech who were apparently celebrating a pre-season baseball game, and while Annabeth knew virtually nothing about Tech’s sports, she couldn’t imagine that they were good enough to justify this sort of reaction. By the time she’d finally cleared them out, it was nearly closing time. Medea was pretty strict about her hours, so the doors were always locked by eleven-fifteen so that no new customers would come in, making it much easier to finish up the cleaning that had to be done before they could call it a night. 

Once the large group had cleared out, the restaurant was empty except for a group of girls at the corner booth that were drinking coffee and studying. Annabeth was fully prepared to kick them out if they didn’t start packing up by eleven-forty-five, but for now, she let them sit. Other than their occasional laughter, it was quiet.

That’s why, when they heard the tapping on the glass, they all looked up. Annabeth rushed over as she realized who had knocked. She stepped outside, letting the door close behind her. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, at the risk of sounding like a complete weirdo stalker,” Piper frowned, “I wanted to see if you were actually at work tonight.” 

“Of course I’m at work,” Annabeth said, her brow furrowing in confusion. “I told you I—”

“I know what you said, Annabeth,” she interrupted. “But I wanted to make sure you weren’t just making up excuses.”

“Piper, what are you talking about?”

“I guess I just thought maybe you were trying to let me down easy by making up ways to get out of hanging out with me outside of practice,” she explained, biting her lip nervously. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Chase, I’ve been trying to ask you out for weeks and I can’t tell if I’m not being clear or if you’re just not interested or… well, I thought you were—”

“Oh.” Annabeth blushed, letting her face fall into her hands for a moment. This was the thing she’d been half-hoping for, half-dreading for nearly two years: confirmation that her impression wasn’t off-base, that Piper was at least somewhat interested in her too. And now that it was staring her in the face, she didn't have the faintest idea of how to respond. 

It was complicated. Things were way messier now than they’d been a year and a half ago, when Annabeth had finally accepted the fact that she was attracted to her teammate. She had commitments to think of and appearances to keep up, and both of those things required that she could definitely not be dating someone else. 

But what was even stranger was the way she suddenly wasn’t sure that she even wanted this anymore. She’d thought about Piper a lot over the last two years, sure, but not so much lately. And she wasn’t entirely sure why that was, but she knew that she was pretty sure it meant that her feelings had changed. But all of these things were real and raw and hard to explain... so Annabeth took the coward’s way out, and gave Piper the convenient lie.

“Piper, I— I have a boyfriend,” she said, hoping that her face revealed the sincere sympathy she felt. “I didn’t mean to lead you on or anything. I definitely—”

“No,” Piper shook her head quickly, taking a few steps back. “No, you don’t have to explain anything. It was my fault.”

“It wasn’t just your fault,” Annabeth said, meaning every word. “I—”

“Goodnight, Annabeth,” she said, cutting Annabeth off before she could say anything else. Piper turned and started to make her way up the sidewalk. “I’ll see you Monday.”

-

“Are you insane?” Connor complained, rubbing his eyes. “It’s one in the morning.”

“On a Friday,” she said, pushing past him as she entered the apartment. “Grow up.”

“Is everything okay?” he asked, looking only slightly more awake now. “Are you okay?” 

Connor, despite being the one to tell Annabeth that she should talk to Percy, was especially jumpy ever since she’d told him what she’d learned about his past. She didn’t give him all of the details (some secrets, she'd decided, weren’t hers to share) but she did tell him enough to convince him that Percy wasn’t dangerous. Still, he seemed to be a bit more on edge where she was concerned, lately. 

“Yes, I’m fine,” Annabeth sighed. She dropped her keys onto the counter and crossed her arms, leaning back against the cabinet. “Piper came by the diner tonight.”

“What?” Connor yawned, stretching his arms over his head. “Like, your Piper?”

“She’s not my Piper,” she rolled her eyes, “but yes, her. She asked me out.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.”

Connor moved from the hallway into the kitchen, seeming to be slightly more energized with a piece of fresh gossip hanging in front of him. “So what’d you say?”

“I told her I have a boyfriend, obviously,” she frowned. “Which I guess is technically true, for all intents and purposes.”

“But you didn’t want to tell her that,” he added, stating the assumption rather than posing it as a question. “You’ve been into her for how long now? Why didn’t you—”

“Because I promised Percy I wouldn’t make him look stupid, okay?” Annabeth groaned. “We agreed not to see other people until this thing is over just to avoid any possibility of anyone assuming anything and things getting messy.”

“Chase,” Connor frowned. “I’m sorry. I know you really liked her.”

She sighed again. “That’s not all.”

“Really?” Connor raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I need you to not make a big deal out of this, because I am trying very hard not to overthink it,” she said, laying her caveat out first and foremost. Connor looked confused for a moment but nodded. “Percy didn’t tell Frank the truth. Which officially means that you’re the only person besides Brunner that knows that this whole thing is fake.”

“Why wouldn’t he just tell Frank that it’s for the school?” Connor shrugged. “It’s not really that big of a deal. It’s a little strange, I guess, but it makes sense. I’d probably have done it if someone had offered to give me a big, fat check.”

“Exactly,” she nodded. “I don’t know why either, but I certainly wasn’t expecting him to come into the diner tonight and ask me about our relationship.”

“Jeez, Chase,” he laughed, “is there anyone you didn’t see tonight?”

“Percy, thankfully,” Annabeth sighed. “I just can’t believe Piper and Frank showed up.”

“Has Percy texted you since Frank left?” Connor asked. 

“I don’t know,” she answered, feeling her pockets. “I haven’t checked my phone all night.”

Annabeth looked through her notifications, relieved to see that there were no messages from Percy or Piper. She was about to lock the screen again when she noticed the email. “Oh, God.”

“What is it?”

“Another email from Brunner,” she explained, flipping through it quickly. “He wants to meet up with us again on Monday to discuss something.”

“Sounds fun,” Connor smirked, sounding way too excited about being an audience to her misery. “You’ll have to let me know how it goes.”

She slid her phone back into her pocket, bringing her fingertips to her temples. “I think I’m in over my head here, Connor.” 

Connor stepped up, pulling her into a hug. “Maybe,” he said, though the word sounded a little muffled with her head being pressed against his chest. “But you’re the toughest person I know, Chase. You’ll survive.”

For once, she wasn’t so sure. 

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 99

Annabeth wanted to scream. 

In fact, if she'd thought for even one millisecond that it might help, she would’ve done just that. Nothing was right, everything was a mess, and her plans for a peaceful weekend had been totally upended by everything she’d learned in the past twelve hours. Her dreams of sleeping in that Saturday ended up being a total waste since she was up before sunrise, despite how exhausted she felt. 

One blessing came from her early morning: it was silent in the apartment. She would wager that Thalia had only been asleep for an hour or two at most, and Hazel and Katie definitely wouldn’t be stirring for a while. The downside to this quiet reprieve was that she had lots of time and space to zone out and think of everything that had gone wrong. 

Things were always falling apart, and she was usually very good at picking up the pieces— but lately, things seemed to be breaking faster than she could fix them. Every time she thought she’d caught her breath, something new came along to punch her in the gut and left gasping for air all over again.

The threat of Brunner’s email was looming, but that was, somehow, the least of all her worries. 

Annabeth couldn’t stop thinking about Piper, about the look of dejection in her eyes when she’d told her about Percy, and how horrifyingly awkward practice was certain to be on Monday. The only mercy she could see was knowing that they would have a couple of days of easier (hopefully shorter ) practices before they left for Atlanta on Thursday. 

And that was an entirely separate issue. 

She’d already been dreading the trip solely because of how far away it was and how much was riding on this tournament. This was their penultimate chance, and with the most recent ranking showing Annabeth and Piper’s team in the eighteenth slot, they had to make the most of the trip if they were going to make it to Athens. She and Piper would be sharing a room (as they always did), and while that usually wouldn’t have been reason for concern or even pause, it felt strangely unfamiliar in the shadow of the things that had been said. 

But the thing that was weighing most heavily, inexplicably, was Percy. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what Frank had said, that Percy had been moping since their last meeting, and the implications that statement carried. Maybe she hadn’t done as good of a job as she’d hoped at assuring him that her want for space wasn’t an attempt to freeze him out. For some reason, the thought that he might be torturing himself over a miscommunication was more troubling than just about anything else that was currently on her mind.

Why that was, however, was evasive. Sure, she knew a huge secret about him, but they were only just beginning to get to know each other. She didn't owe him anything, certainly not her pity. They were beginning to grow closer, but the truth was that Percy was still practically a stranger. And Jason, on the other hand, had been a good friend to her— even if she had been upset about the things that had happened in the past, she didn't think that she should feel guilty about it. Still, the thought of him beating himself up over something that even she wasn't mad about bothered her. 

Annabeth settled into the chair in the corner of the living room, her fingers drumming nervously on the back of her phone as she stared at the screen. Her fingers itched to call him and tell him that she'd had enough of the silence and that they should try to move on, but she couldn't make herself do it. She didn't know what she would say, wasn't sure how he would respond, and the uncertainty caused her to shrink even further into her shell.

The compromise, she decided, would be a text message. She could easily gauge a reaction that way and if things did get weird or uncomfortable for some reason, she'd have time to think and compose a rational response. Maybe she wouldn't even bring up their standoff; maybe she could just try to strike up a conversation and see how it went. 

It was the coward's way out, but it was something.

8:02 AM - ANNABETH:
How were your pancakes?

8:07 AM - PERCY J:
Fine

8:08 AM - PERCY J:
They’re better when
they’re not cold

8:08 AM - ANNABETH:
Why didn’t you guys
just eat at the diner?

8:15 AM - PERCY J:
We were gonna, I didn’t
know you’d be working

8:16 AM - ANNABETH:
Wait were you with Frank
last night?

8:18 AM - PERCY J:
Yeah. stayed in the car

8:18 AM - ANNABETH:
Why didn’t you come in?

8:20 AM - PERCY J:
Giving you space

Annabeth stared at that message for a long time. It shouldn’t have meant much— it was just courteous of him to honor her request and she should probably be thankful that he’d been so okay with letting her step out for air. But it didn’t feel that way. It felt like something was slipping away, like the sand was passing through the hourglass a little bit faster than it was meant to. She felt like the person she’d been beginning to see as a friend was turning back into a stranger and that thought, for some reason, weighed on her. 

It wasn’t smart, and she knew that. But she bit her lip, tapping a reply into the message box anyway. ‘I’m tired of space,’ she’d typed, but the phone vibrated with a new message just before she hit Send.

8:31 AM - PERCY J:
It’s been a good thing,
I think

There were a number of things that his message might have meant, a dozen different implications, but the main sentiment was the same: Percy obviously didn’t mind the space between them as much as she’d been led to believe. 

8:31 AM - PERCY J:
the space I mean

Any doubt she had about his intentions vanished like mist in the wind. She tapped the backspace button until her message was cleared. 

8:32 AM - ANNABETH:
Yeah, it’s been good.

She didn’t tell him that she’d found herself wondering what he was up to or how she’d secretly hoped that they’d cross paths at the Aegis some afternoon, despite knowing that he did almost all of his training first thing in the morning. She didn’t know how to tell him that she’d actually missed seeing his name pop up on her phone screen, always accompanied by a stupid joke or seemingly random thought. She couldn’t explain the way that he’d managed to carve a little notch for himself into her life, and even though it wasn’t always noticeable, she could feel the open gap that was left behind.

She couldn’t tell him that she’d wanted to be more for him that day on the beach, that she’d spent the last two weeks thinking about things that she should have said, or done. She certainly couldn’t tell him that she’d forgiven him (whether he needed her forgiveness or not was another matter entirely) almost as soon as she’d left his side that morning. 

There would be a time to tell him — someday, maybe — when things weren’t so complicated. At least, she hoped there would be.

-

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 97

By the time Monday morning rolled around, Annabeth was anxious with anticipation. The eerily vague email from Dr. Brunner had been enough to cause her a little bit of nervousness in its own right, but it seemed to pale in comparison to the electricity that vibrated through her as she walked to the Administrative Building that morning. She didn’t let herself think too hard or too long about the fact that the source of that excitement was the promise of seeing Percy. 

The hallway outside of the Dean’s office was empty and quiet. She checked her phone, noting that she herself was only a couple of minutes early for the meeting, and hoped that Percy wasn’t running too late. But she stayed there, lingering beside the elevators as she waited. 

At five-after, the door at the end of the hall opened. “Miss Chase?”

Annabeth looked away from the water-stained ceiling tiles that she’d been counting, meeting the stare of the Dean’s assistant, Juniper. She was a short woman, even smaller than she’d seemed when she was hidden behind her desk, with long red-brown hair that fell down her shoulders in the softest, shiniest curls Annabeth had ever seen. 

“Is everything alright?” Juniper asked. “Dr. Brunner has been expecting you.”

“I was just waiting for Percy,” she explained. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, dear,” the woman nodded, curls bouncing as she did. “I thought you knew— Mr. Jackson won’t be here this morning.”

“Oh.” Annabeth was either unable or unwilling to acknowledge the pang of disappointment that hit her then. She pulled her backpack onto her shoulders and walked toward the office with Juniper. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“That’s quite alright,” Juniper smiled, gesturing toward the inner door once they’d reached the small reception area. “You can go right on in.”

Annabeth opened the door without bothering to knock, letting it close on its own as she walked to the desk and took a seat across from Dr. Brunner. He had the same small, knowing smirk on his lips as he’d had the morning that he’d proposed this crazy plan in the first place, and she was immediately on edge. 

“Good morning, Miss Chase,” he began, warmly. “How was your weekend?”

“It was fine,” she answered simply, not particularly in the mood for niceties. “Do you know where Percy is?”

“He called this morning to let me know that he’s not feeling well,” he said. “I would have preferred that we all have this conversation together, but I trust that you will properly relay the details?”

Annabeth nodded, still bracing for whatever bomb Brunner was about to drop. “Sure, I guess.”

“Very good,” Dr. Brunner said. “Well, I wouldn’t want to take up any more of your morning than necessary so let’s just get straight to it, shall we? Our public relations team has been hard at work over the last several weeks, and I am quite pleased to report that we have an exciting opportunity for you.”

“Okay,” Annabeth said warily. “What kind of opportunity?”

“A publication has expressed an interest in conducting an interview with you both, as well as an accompanying photoshoot,” he smiled, obviously quite pleased with himself. “It will be very simple, I’ve been told— they want to highlight your respective journeys and talk to you about your lives and relationships.” 

“I guess that sounds okay,” she said. It didn’t sound especially interesting or appealing to her, but she’d (obviously) known that there would likely be events like the one Brunner was proposing when she’d agreed to this nearly a month before. “When?”

Dr. Brunner slid a sheet of paper toward her, a printout of an email thread. “They’re asking to hold the interview next week, on whichever day works best for both you and Percy. Then they’ll be sending in a team for a photoshoot the following week.”

“When you say ‘photoshoot’—”

“I’m afraid I don’t have all of the details on that at the moment, but I am sure that you will be given more information at the interview next week,” Dr. Brunner explained. “All that I know for now is that they’ve asked for permission to close the campus Fitness Complex for the morning of the shoot.”

“Really?” Annabeth asked. The idea of being the reason that the entire student body would have to change their workout plans and even potentially interrupting class schedules was more than a bit off-putting. “Couldn’t we do the shoot somewhere else?”

Brunner looked at her like it was a stupid question, stirring a bitterness that she tried to ignore. “Well, I assume that they’ll want photos of you in action.”

“But we don’t even have sand courts here.”

That much she knew well. If there had been sand courts available for her to use on campus, she would’ve been able to avoid resorting to using the public courts at the beach for those months before she’d teamed up with Piper, and probably would have spared herself from a lot of the scars she’d earned from landing on bottle caps, broken glass, and all other manner of debris. 

“Hmm,” Dr. Brunner said, drumming his fingers on the desk as if this were the first time he’d thought of this which seemed completely absurd to her. How could he not have thought about that? “I fear that does pose a bit of an issue for us.”

Annabeth simply stared back. In any other scenario, she might’ve begun to flip through alternatives in her mind, trying to come up with a helpful alternative that she could suggest. But today, she was in no mood to be helpful. This was Brunner’s show, after all— let him deal with the obstacles. 

“I wonder if we might be able to convince the Castellans—”

“No.”

Dr. Brunner’s eyes shot up, locking with hers instantly. “Miss Chase, I know it might be a bit awkward—”

“I won’t do it,” she said firmly, shaking her head. “Find a different place. There are other courts in San Francisco— what about The Aegis?”

“‘The Aegis’?” he asked, obviously not familiar with the name. “What is ‘The Aegis’?”

“It’s a private facility down in the Marina District,” Annabeth explained. “Percy and I both train there anyway. It’d be good publicity for them, right? Maybe they’d agree to let us use the courts and the pool one morning if the magazine or whatever mentions that we train there.”

A small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “You really are a quick study, aren’t you?”

Annabeth frowned, her brow furrowing. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You do,” he nodded, leaning back in his chair. “You pretend like you think this is all trite and reprehensible, that you shouldn’t even be worrying yourself with it. But your brain works exactly the same way— constantly searching for opportunity. You’re a fast learner: you pick up on what people are looking for, and you mirror it.”

Annabeth fidgeted in her seat, looking away for a brief moment. It wasn’t that he’d said anything that was hurtful or even all that untrue, but the thought of someone analyzing her so simply made her more than a little uncomfortable.

“I didn’t mean it as an insult, to be sure,” Dr. Brunner said quickly. “It’s remarkable, really. Admirable, even.”

“So you’ll see if we can use The Aegis, then?” Annabeth asked, trying to steer the conversation back on topic.

“I will, yes.” He nodded as he scribbled something onto his notepad. “I thank you for the suggestion, as well. I do wish that we could use our facilities, but I suppose that it is best to showcase the two of you in your element.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” she said, plastering on a bright, fake smile. “We’ll be sure to brag about our wonderful institution and how we’d be nothing without their support.” 

Dr. Brunner’s terse grin clearly expressed that he did not find the humor in her pseudo-affable commentary. “One last thing,” he said, dropping his pen back into the mug on the corner of his desk that was emblazoned with the University logo. “I want to be sure that you understand the importance of presenting a united front at this interview.”

Annabeth’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Dr. Brunner sighed, shrugging his shoulders, “it’s important that you and Percy understand each other. You’ll be asked questions about your relationship, and it is imperative that your answers are compatible and that the timeline, origins, and nature of your relationship seem to be homogeneous.”

“You want us to get our story straight.”

“Precisely,” he smiled. “As I said: a quick study.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Anything else we should know about? Should I memorize his social security number and make sure he knows my blood type?”

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” he chuckled, clearly enjoying this exchange far more than she was. “Just be sure to carve out some time before the interview to devise a believable backstory and get to know each other a bit more. You’re off to a good start— the photo Percy posted a few weeks ago definitely created some much-needed buzz. But we’ll need to really ramp it up now that we’re nearing the end of the semester.”

“Right,” she sighed. Annabeth wondered if this was how indentured servants felt. “I’ll talk to Percy.”

“Very good. Now, before you go, I have something for you.” Annabeth eyed him curiously as he reached down to the floor behind his desk. A moment later, he lifted two large, white paper bags printed with the University logo on both sides and set them on his desk. “One is for you, and I trust you will be able to deliver the other to Mr. Jackson?”

“What is all of this?” Annabeth asked, rising to her feet. 

“Well, it’s only fair that we express our gratitude for your willingness to cooperate with our marketing campaign, isn’t it?” he said innocuously, even as she cut her eyes at the use of the term ‘marketing campaign’. “This is simply a small gesture of our appreciation. If anything is the wrong size, please let us know— Ms. Oren simply worked from a best guess when she was selecting the items.”

She glanced into the bags briefly, just long enough to realize that they were filled to the top with a myriad of shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and other merchandise in school colors. A plush eagle toy was poking out of the top of one of the bags and she picked it up, examining it for a moment before she looked at Dr. Brunner again. 

“And I don’t suppose this comes with any sort of implied request that we wear these clothes to our interview, right?” Annabeth asked knowingly. “Should I go ahead and replace my entire wardrobe with Eagles gear?”

“Your sarcasm is such a refreshing treat, Miss Chase,” Dr. Brunner said simply. “We don’t get to see many true colors inside these walls— most people are on their best behavior.”

Annabeth dropped the stuffed eagle back into the bag. “Oops.”

“Oops, indeed,” he smirked. “Now, what you do with these items is up to you, I suppose. But it would certainly help our cause should you decide to represent your school in this small, simple way.”

“Fine,” she sighed, pulling on her backpack before taking one paper bag into each hand. “Is there anything else I should know about this interview?”

“I don’t believe so,” he answered. “I’ll send another email in the next day or so with a few possible times for you, and once we have finalized a location for the shoot, we’ll get that scheduled as well.”

“Great,” she nodded with absolutely no enthusiasm in her voice as she turned back toward the door. “Looking forward to it.”

“Miss Chase,” Dr. Brunner said, the sudden seriousness in his tone causing her to freeze in place, her hand lingering on the doorknob. He waited until she'd turned back to face him before he continued. “You’ll do well to remember the value of the compensation that you are receiving for your participation. This may all seem like a joke to you now, and that’s fine— but if you purposefully impede this interview in any way,” he said, his brown eyes colder than they’d been since that morning he’d had them sign the contracts, “we’ll have no choice but to rescind our very generous offer.”

Annabeth felt the weight of his words settle onto her shoulders, the bags in her hands suddenly seeming to be filled with lead. 

“Do we understand each other?”

She nodded. 

“Good,” he said, returning her nod as his expression thawed. “I’ll be in touch with those details soon. Please give my best to Percy when you see him.”

Annabeth ducked her head, hurrying out of the office before the chill could return.

-

When she reached her car, she tucked both of the bags into the trunk of her Corolla and settled into the driver’s seat. She was already almost fifteen minutes late for practice, but she figured that a meeting with the Dean had to be a reasonable excuse. Regardless, she pulled her phone out and sent a quick text to Piper.

1:43 PM - ANNABETH:
Running late, got held
up at school

1:44 PM - PIPER:
Ooooh Coach is gonna
have ur ass Chase

1:44 PM - ANNABETH:
He’ll have to find a
stepstool first

1:45 PM - PIPER:
Lmao just hurry up and
get over here!

Annabeth laughed, tossing her phone into the cupholder as she put the car into drive and navigated out of the parking garage. As much as she’d been dreading practice today, it was a relief that Piper seemed to be in a joking mood. She hoped that their conversation on Friday night, however short, had not made things awkward between them.

Besides the obvious weirdness associated with having a rift with a friend, they couldn’t afford to be out of sync right now. The upcoming competition was incredibly important for them. Their performance would have to be spotless, and there was absolutely no room for error if they wanted to move up to the top 15 before the Athens team was finalized in June. She and Piper relied on trust and communication on the court, and now was not the time for that stability to waver.

Thankfully, it seemed that Piper felt the same way. If she was suffering from any lingering awkwardness she didn’t let it show. Practice passed by pretty smoothly, even if Coach Hedge did demand an extra set of reps on all of her exercises as recompense for her tardiness. By the time she was walking out to her car, she’d nearly forgotten about the bag of school spirit gear in the trunk of her car. 

In fact, she’d nearly forgotten about the strangeness of the entire day. The morning had been normal enough — a busy shift at Dee’s and a couple of classes before the meeting — but she still hadn’t shaken the chill that Brunner’s hardly-disguised threat had sent down her spine. True, it was probably warranted, but it still poked at something unfamiliar in her chest. 

As soon as she got home, she inferred which of the bags had been intended for her before hauling it upstairs and dumping it out onto her comforter. The mountain of purple and gold (mostly purple, thankfully) was almost laughable. She sorted through the pile, folding or hanging up the clothes and tucking them away before she carried the three mugs, a water bottle, and reusable tote bag to the kitchen to find a place to store them. 

If nothing else, their apartment certainly had a lot more Eagles spirit, now.

She returned to her room, digging around in her backpack until she found her cell phone. There were a lot of things she wanted to say to Percy, but none of them felt especially safe at the moment. So instead, she went with the easiest course of action.

7:12 PM - ANNABETH:
Hey

7:14 PM - PERCY J:
Hey yourself

7:14 PM - ANNABETH:
You’re sick?

7:15 PM - PERCY J:
Nope

7:15 PM - ANNABETH:
Then where were you?

7:15 PM - ANNABETH:
Brunner said you were sick

7:16 PM - PERCY J:
I lied

7:16 PM - ANNABETH:
Obviously. Why?

7:16 PM - PERCY J:
Giving you space

Annabeth groaned, pressing her phone to her forehead in frustration. He really could be infuriating. Sometimes it felt like there was nothing but kelp and pool water sloshing around inside his head. Before she could even think of how to respond, a new message came through. 

7:17 PM - PERCY J:
That’s what you wanted, right?

Maybe space had been what she’d wanted— at least, it had been at the time that she’d asked for it. But that was two weeks ago. She wondered how long he was going to keep this up, but then she remembered telling him that she’d call after she got back from Atlanta. At the time, she’d wondered if she’d even be ready to talk to him by then, and now here she was, questioning him for respecting her wishes. 

(She decided, begrudgingly, that maybe some of the blame could also be put on her shoulders... and maybe it hadn't been entirely fair to compare his brain to a glob of seaweed.)

This 'space' that he'd mentioned, the thing that had seemed so important when she’d walked away from his bike that morning, felt so meaningless now. Actually, it felt like an absolutely foolish idea, an empty gesture that was doing nothing more than making herself feel unnecessarily burdened by the absence of this person that she’d actually begun to enjoy having around.

And that was stupid, wasn’t it? Why should she live in a self-imposed exile?

Annabeth tapped a new message into her phone, pressing send before she could lose her nerve. 

7:20 PM - ANNABETH:
It was.

7:25 PM - PERCY J:
Was?

7:27 PM - ANNABETH:
Was.

7:28 PM - PERCY J:
And now?

7:28 PM - ANNABETH:
I don’t know if that’s what
I want anymore.

7:30 PM - PERCY J:
Well, you let me know when
you figure it out

Annabeth dropped her phone onto the mattress with a sigh, because what in the hell kind of response was that? She knew it was probably valid for him to be frustrated with her, but it still felt a little cold. He had taken her request for space too literally. It all felt so ridiculously performative and she was more upset by that than by anything else. 

Calling in a takeout order and sending Frank in to pick it up just because he realized she was working? Lying to the Dean to get out of a meeting that they should have had to endure together? These were small, almost idiotic rebellions, a most annoying act of malicious compliance, and she had to believe that he knew exactly how they were being received. 

She decided that he didn’t deserve a response, opting instead for a long, hot bath to wash away the exhausting day. While she soaked, she thought of a thousand different questions that the reporters might ask, trying to compile a list of things that she’d need to learn about Percy before the interview next week. The most daunting part of it would be having to work with him to create what she’d begun calling the 'Big Lie’— a believable, heartwarming story of how they’d met, and how incredibly in love they were.

Could they even do it? The one time they’d had to try, she’d felt so strange that she’d nearly blown it multiple times. And yet, she thought to herself, her roommates had believed it without hesitation, even going so far as to tell her (many, many times) how cute they looked together or how perfect they were for each other. 

And true, those were often things that one might just say to a friend to make them feel better— but that’s not how Katie Gardner operated. She didn’t offer compliments in vain. If she said something, she meant it, and she’d given her stamp of approval to the Percy situation almost immediately. That had to mean that they were doing something right. 

Okay, so maybe they could do this. She could put on a doe-eyed, smitten face and pretend that she believed he hung each and every individual star just for her, and he’d already proven that he was more than capable of selling the impression that he was completely infatuated with her every move. It would be tricky, but they could do it. And once this story was published, maybe Brunner would be off their backs for a while and they could just focus on what really mattered: Athens.

When her fingers were sufficiently pruney and the bath water was beginning to reach a tepid temperature, Annabeth pulled herself out of the sudsy tub. She returned to her room and began to change, pulling the tags off of one of the new Eagles sweatshirts she’d so graciously been gifted and tugging it over her head. She was just about to walk out into the living room when she heard her phone vibrate.

8:06 PM - PERCY J:
I don’t know what you want
from me, Chase. Tbh you
confuse the hell out of me.

Annabeth chewed at her lip nervously. She didn’t know quite what to make of that message, but she decided to take it at face value: he wanted to know where they stood. She could handle that. Although she’d much rather have this conversation in person, now felt like as good a time as any to try and begin rebuilding the bridge that had crumbled over the last two weeks.

8:10 PM - ANNABETH:
What are you doing
Wednesday?

8:11 PM - PERCY J:
Why Wednesday

8:11 PM - PERCY J:
I’m busy Wednesday

8:11 PM - ANNABETH:
Well, I’d say tomorrow but
I know it’s a Tuesday. And
I leave for Atlanta Thurs
morning.

8:13 PM - PERCY J:
Ok. When do you get
back

8:14 PM - ANNABETH:
Sunday night

8:15 PM - PERCY J:
Can we meet up Monday

This time, she didn’t hesitate.

8:15 PM - ANNABETH:
Yes

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 94

TOURNAMENT DAY ONE - THURSDAY

The first day of competitions was always the worst— there weren't any actual matches, just opening ceremonies and a few different social events. The FIVB was always very adamant about encouraging international friendships and bonds among the teams, hoping that those invited to compete would share in a camaraderie that would make the league look good. To Annabeth (especially at present), it was one more institution asking her to put on a fake smile and be something that she wasn’t. It was exhausting.

So, naturally, she did all that she could do to avoid it. Piper and Hedge always knew that she was full of it whenever she inevitably told them her stomach wasn’t settled or that the flight had messed with her sleep schedule or any of the other excuses she kept primed in her arsenal, but they never pushed her too hard. They’d learned a long time ago that forcing her to participate usually ended poorly for everyone.

That’s why she was alone that evening, eating Vietnamese takeout and watching reruns of a show she used to watch with Connor all the time. The sitcom followed the zany, dramatically intertwined lives of a girl and her three male roommates and never failed to make her laugh. Connor used to joke that if Annabeth moved into the guys’ apartment, they could write their own show. (Annabeth knew that moving in with three college-aged boys would be a nightmare and it wouldn’t look anything like the show made it seem, but she’d humored him anyway.)

It made her miss Connor. She hadn’t had much time for him lately, and she hated that. Maybe that was why she called him, setting him on speakerphone to keep her company as she ate her dinner.

Connor was her oldest friend, the only person that had remained constant in her life, and she often feared that he would feel she was taking advantage of his friendship. And then, he’d do something kind or generous (like having the aforementioned takeout delivered to her hotel room from the other side of the country) and she’d realize that she was stupid for ever thinking that he would hold her obligations and busy schedule against her. 

“Are you nervous?” he asked, just like he always did on the night before a tournament. His voice was tinny through the speaker, but it was familiar and comforting all the same.

“Not really,” she answered. “I’m just ready to get it over with, honestly. I’ve been so stressed about this entire thing— I think it’s giving me an ulcer.”

“That’s no good,” Connor laughed. “I don’t think you’ll pass your physical for Athens if you’ve got an ulcer, Chase.”

“Exactly,” Annabeth grumbled, taking a bite of her spring roll.

Connor was unusually quiet for a moment before he hit her with a question she really hadn’t seen coming. “Are you sure there’s no other reason you’re tense? Maybe a tall, green-eyed reason?”

“Connor, don’t,” she warned. 

“I’m just saying, it’s been almost three weeks,” he said gently. “And I’m not trying to imply anything but… you’ve been kind of weird since that night.”

Annabeth had told Connor the barest of the details that Percy had shared with her. After telling him Thalia’s side of the story, she felt like she had to tell him something about Percy, but she didn’t feel right telling him everything. It wasn’t her story to tell and she wanted to respect that Percy had trusted her enough to be honest with her. Connor had understood (because, of course he had) and hadn’t pushed it. 

She’d been honest with him about her reaction to the entire situation: how she’d wanted to be angry but she wasn’t, and how she really wasn’t sure why that was. Connor hadn’t spared her.

“Because you like him,” he’d said simply, like that was a perfectly reasonable thing to say. She’d denied it then, and many times since, insisting that she didn’t even know him well enough to have an opinion on him, much less to have a crush on him.

“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” she muttered, glaring at the spot on the bed where her phone was laying beside the pile of napkins. She wondered if she might be able to will the call to mysteriously drop if she stared hard enough. 

“It’s like, barely five o’clock, stupid,” he countered. “Stop trying to change the subject.”

“Connor, I just really don’t want to talk about this anymore, alright? Not tonight, not this weekend—”

“If you have it your way, we’ll never talk about it,” he interrupted. 

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Annabeth insisted. “And even if there were, it would be my decision when to talk about it.”

“I just wish you’d stop being so stubborn about all of this,” Connor sighed. “You know, it’s okay for you to not be miserable about this ordeal, even if you did have to sign your soul away. If you like this guy—”

“I will not hesitate to hang up on you.”

It was silent for a moment. “You’re being childish.”

“I’m being childish?” Annabeth gaped, setting her fork down and lifting her phone into her hands so that she could more accurately aim her raised voice at the microphone. “Why won’t you just let this go? There’s nothing to talk about.”

“You keep saying that—”

“Yeah, because it’s the truth,” she said, exasperated. 

Connor sighed again. “I wasn’t going to show you this.”

Annabeth sat up a little straighter, her brow furrowing. “Show me what?”

“Sending it now,” he muttered. “Hang on.”

Her phone vibrated as a new message notification popped up on the top of the screen. She tapped the banner nervously as her messaging app opened to reveal the image that Connor had sent. It was a photo from the night of the Thalia’s show in San Jose, just a few hours before everything had gone horribly awry. 

The version of Percy and herself in the photo looked happy. His arm was tight around her waist and they were both smiling, obviously mid-conversation, in the moments before Huntress had gone on stage. She didn’t remember what they had been talking about, and she certainly hadn’t realized that anyone had been taking pictures. 

“Katie?”

“Yeah,” Connor admitted. “She sent it to Travis, he sent it to me.”

“And why exactly weren’t you going to show me this?” Annabeth asked, her mouth dry as she continued to stare at the couple on the screen that seemed so unfamiliar to her now. 

“You’re not stupid, Chase,” he said bluntly. “Look at this picture and tell me you don’t see it.” 

She’d be blind not to, really. It was strange to look at this picture now, remembering how nervous she’d been at the time and how different things felt now, and see what appeared to be two people that were truly and sincerely enjoying one another’s company. She couldn’t deny the faintest hint of a light in her eyes, even in the sort-of blurry picture that Katie had hastily snapped before she could be caught. 

“Okay, I see your point,” she conceded. “It definitely does look like something's going on.”

“Hah,” he chuckled, clearly proud of himself.

“But that was the whole point, Connor,” Annabeth protested. “We were supposed to be acting like we like each other— we were pretending to be on a date!”

“Sure,” he said simply. “Okay.”

“Connor.”

“Annabeth.”

“You’re being mean,” she groaned. “And I have enough on my mind right now.”

“I know,” Connor agreed, “and that’s exactly why I’m trying to help.”

“You call this helping?” she scoffed.

“It would be helpful, if you’d just listen to me.”

“Okay, fine,” Annabeth sighed. “I’m listening. Wise mentor of mine, please tell me what to do.”

“I can’t,” Connor said, sounding far too smug for how unhelpful he was being. “All I can do is tell you what I see. And what I see is you, trying very hard to force some distance in this situation, when I don’t think that it’s really what you want.” 

Annabeth stared at the TV, half-wishing she hadn’t called Connor at all. “Anything else?” she asked, her voice flat. 

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Kick Silena’s ass this weekend.”

-

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 93

TOURNAMENT DAY TWO - FRIDAY

The first real day of tournaments was only mildly better than the day that they arrived. Nine times out of ten (the ‘one’ being the few tournaments that were too small for pool play), the day consisted of three Round Robin style pool matches, where every team played three sets against the other three teams in their randomly assigned pool. The top two teams from each group would advance to the single elimination rounds. 

The day wasn’t especially hectic — three matches only took about four hours to play, in most cases — but there was a lot of waiting around, and that was always the worst part. Maybe it was egotistical, but Annabeth knew that she and Piper were better than the other teams in their pool as soon as she got a glimpse at the schedule, so the first day of play felt more obligatory than anything.

And just like she’d expected, when Friday’s scores were reported, Annabeth and Piper were first place in their pool and had landed in a good seed for the next day’s matches. On one hand, she was thankful for the easy wins on that first day, because she knew that they’d to bring their A-game for the next four matches (assuming that they made it to the semifinals, that is).

Friday night, she and Piper had gone to bed early. Well, they’d gone back to their room early, anyway. Once they got there, they quickly realized that one of Piper’s favorite movies was on TV and they ended up staying up for a couple hours longer than they’d intended. Still, they managed to fall asleep at a reasonable hour.

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 92

TOURNAMENT DAY THREE - SATURDAY

When Piper’s alarm went off on Saturday morning, they only whined for a few moments before they both pulled themselves from their beds and began to get ready for the day. Annabeth stretched while Piper showered, and then they traded off. She joined Piper in the mirror, both girls silent as they braided their hair back into tight, flat plaits that would (hopefully) keep every strand out of their faces throughout the day.

They met up with Hedge in the lobby and took the FIVB provided shuttle to the complex. It was almost completely silent in the van as the other women and their coaches all focused on psyching themselves up for the day. When they reached the facility — the ghostly remnants of one of the 1996 Olympic arenas that now served as a satellite building for one of the nearby universities — Annabeth was already fighting back the nerves in her stomach.

She’d managed to avoid Silena during Friday’s pool matches, hadn’t even so much as glimpsed her from across the arena. She had a feeling she wouldn't be so lucky today. Annabeth’s feet carried her straight to the wall where the bracket had been posted, her eyes scanning the list quickly. She was relieved, although not surprised, to find that she and Piper weren’t set to play against her old teammate, and even if both teams advanced to the next round, they wouldn’t be likely to face off anytime soon. 

“Well, that’s a relief, right?” Piper asked, stepping up beside Annabeth and seeming to read her mind. 

“Yeah,” Annabeth nodded. Her throat was still tight. Maybe she wouldn’t have to play against Silena Beauregard today, but she’d still see her at some point. And seeing her meant that she’d also see him.

It had gotten easier, sort of, over the course of the two years that had passed since she’d begun entering competitions with Piper. The first time that she’d run into her old coach at a tournament, she’d all but sprinted to the bathroom, so overcome by nausea that she thought for sure she was going to puke. He was a reminder of her failures, of all of the ways that she’d let so many people down— not the least of all Silena. 

Silena had been her teammate then, back when they’d been shoo-ins for a spot at the Rio games. Back before Annabeth had walked away from beach volleyball, from her teammate and her coach, and made a laughing stock of them all. 

It hurt to think about how misunderstood the entire ordeal had been, and it was even more painful to consider how she imagined Silena must have felt. Annabeth had never had an opportunity to explain herself or apologize, and she could only imagine that Silena hated her. (She imagined that she probably deserved it.)

Julia Feingold, a quick, snarky redhead, had teamed up with Silena not long after that, and Annabeth had begun her eighteen month hiatus. She wouldn’t admit it, but she’d kept up with the Beauregard-Feingold team that season, had even cheered them on, despite knowing that it meant that she’d inadvertently been cheering for her old coach as well. 

Back when they’d first partnered up, Piper had naturally been curious as to why Annabeth had walked away at what would have realistically been considered the high point of her athletic career up to that point. Annabeth had, somewhat begrudgingly, given her a vague explanation, the same carefully practiced excuses that she’d rehashed a dozen times— she wasn’t mentally ready for taking on the Olympics at seventeen years old, she was overwhelmed by the pressures that the sport had put on her, etc. 

No one (other than Connor) knew the whole story. Annabeth was determined to keep it that way. 

“Come on,” Piper said, hooking her arm through Annabeth’s and pulling her away. “Let’s go get warmed up.”

-

They won their first round 2-1 and Coach Hedge had released them until their afternoon match, under the condition that they not eat too big a lunch. Little did he know, the only thing on Annabeth’s mind was a nap. 

Both she and Piper returned to their room, pulling the curtains closed to block out the harsh sunlight of their east-facing room. Annabeth was just about to let her braid out when she noticed the reflected version of Piper in the mirror over the sink, her warm brown eyes staring.

“What?”

“I—” she fumbled, chewing her lip. “I just wanted to apologize. For last week.”

“You really don’t have to,” Annabeth shook her head, looking back to her own reflection and hoping that the flush she felt in her cheeks wasn’t too noticeable. “It’s fine, really. Like I said, I… It’s not entirely your fault.”

“What do you mean?” Piper asked cautiously, and Annabeth hated herself for the traces of hope she heard in the words, knowing that she was the reason they were there.

“I knew what you were doing and I didn’t stop it,” she answered, trying to keep her voice steady. She tried to remember Percy, her obligation to him, The Big Lie, and all the little things that had changed the way she felt about Piper over the last several weeks. “I didn’t want to stop it at first— you know, before things got more serious with the guy I’ve been seeing, I mean. And I should’ve told you once things changed with him, but I didn’t. And that’s not your fault, it’s mine.”

(It was mostly true, anyway.)

Piper stared back for a few more seconds before she nodded. “It’s alright,” she said, her voice sounding more sure than her face seemed to reveal. “I’m not upset with you either.”

“Good,” Annabeth said, pulling the last twists loose and running her fingers through the tendrils. She turned around, giving Piper a smile. “I’m really relieved to hear that.”

Piper hugged her, her arms warm and strong as they wrapped around her. “You’re still one of my favorite people, you know,” she said, her chin resting on Annabeth’s shoulder. “I don’t think that has to change.”

“You’re too nice to me, McLean,” Annabeth sighed as she pulled away. She tried not to think about how foreign Piper’s touch felt now, how her skin burned in a way that she wasn’t familiar with anymore. 

“Yeah, well,” Piper grinned, kicking off her shoes as she flopped down on top of the freshly made bed, “don’t let anyone know I’m secretly nice.”

Annabeth laid down, adjusting the pillow under her head as she stared up at the ceiling. “Your secret is safe with me.”

-

Their second game of the day was, surprisingly, even easier than their first. They beat the opposing team in the first two sets, erasing the need for the third and securing a spot in the semifinals. All in all, it had been a pretty good day. 

In fact, it had been such a good day that Annabeth had actually been able to make eye contact with her old coach for the first time in nearly four years, her spine straight and chin high as she walked off of the court. He’d only shown up to their match to try and psyche her out, she was sure of it— and for once, she hadn’t faltered under the unyielding weight of his gaze.

There was something that he didn’t know about her: she’d changed in the years since she’d been training under him. She’d grown into her own, become comfortable in the body that used to feel so foreign and learned how to control it. Annabeth had gone from a gifted child to a focused, dedicated athlete, and the Olympics were within reach. She’d be damned if she’d let him take that from her again.

If Piper or Hedge had noticed, they didn’t say anything, and thankfully, no one else did either. She walked out of the complex that evening with the knowledge that she was a better athlete now than she’d ever been, and for the first time, she was beginning to see that he didn’t get to claim any of her successes. 

Maybe he had been there for the early stages, helped her get her footing in this wildly demanding world, but her accomplishments were her own. She wasn’t the same fourteen year old girl that had walked into training camp at his parents’ gym that summer afternoon, just hoping to polish up her striking skills before she tried out for her high school team in the fall. Annabeth was nearly twenty-two now, with the better part of a decade’s worth of training dedicated to the game.

And that was all her. Not him.

She had been the one to fight back to the top. She had put in the work and the dedication (not to mention the time and the money) to be the very best. And she wasn’t about to let him make her feel like anything less than the powerhouse she knew that she was. 

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 91

TOURNAMENT DAY FOUR - SUNDAY

Even knowing all of this, her heart still dropped to her stomach when the semifinal matchups were posted the following morning. It was probably her own fault, she thought to herself as she sat in one of the folded chairs on the side of the court, staring blankly ahead as she waited for the match to begin. She’d felt so self-assured the day before, so proud and boastful— it was only fitting that her wax wings be melted down today.

When Silena and Julia walked onto the sand, exchanging quiet words and smiles, Annabeth looked to Piper for some form of reassurance. Dependable as the tide, she was right on time. 

“Hey,” Piper said, reaching out and taking Annabeth’s hand with a firm, reassuring grip. “We’ve got this, Chase. Don’t let them get to you. We earned our spot here just as much as they did.”

“I know.”

Piper smirked as she released Annabeth’s hand and moved into position. “Then relax those shoulders and act like it.”

Julia Feingold had a missile for an arm and she wasn’t afraid to show it. The serve soared over the net, slamming into the sand between Annabeth and Piper before they even had time to react. Julia and Silena hugged, celebrating their first ace of the game as Piper squeezed Annabeth’s arm.

“Focus,” she reminded her. “Breathe it in, let it go.”

“Let it go,” Annabeth repeated, nodding as she exhaled a long, shaky breath. “Right.”

When the next serve fired over the net, they were ready. Julia had caught them off guard the first time— she wouldn’t get that lucky again.

-

They played all three sets, with Piper and Annabeth winning by just two points in the final match. Silena looked like she might cry, but Annabeth knew those blue eyes well. Her tears weren’t sadness or disappointment— they were rage. They’d still have a chance to play for third place, but Annabeth and Piper were the ones advancing to the last round of the finals.

The last two matches of the tournament were set up in the main arena so that everyone could observe and they were the only games that weren’t played in tandem with other matches. It was the main event, after all, when the weekend's best performers were showcased and the winners got their moment in the spotlight. 

The battle for third place was held before the true final, and Annabeth couldn’t keep her knee from bouncing nervously through the entire ninety-minute match. Piper looked to be the picture of composure at her side while Hedge paced a trail into the floor behind their row of chairs, chewing a piece of gum angrily. 

When the buzzer signaled the end of the game, Silena and Julia hugged, excited to accept their third place trophy. They posed for a few photos, including a few with the other team and a couple with their coach. The sand was raked and the basket full of volleyballs was examined by an FIVB official while Annabeth and Piper stretched. 

“Don’t let them get to you,” Piper encouraged, her brown eyes trained on the other team— two tall Brazilian women that were so breathtakingly beautiful, Annabeth had a hard time not feeling anything but intimidated and inferior. “They’re good, but we’re better.”

Annabeth nodded, thankful, once again, for her incredible teammate. A sharp whistle reached her ears as they jogged out onto the court.

-

Realistically, it could have been worse. Second place at an international competition was certainly not a small accomplishment. Forty-eight teams had started out on Friday, and they’d finished second overall. It was a good showing— but would it be enough? 

When the FIVB Olympic ranking was updated on Monday, would they have moved up the list? If not, they were pretty much guaranteed to be out of luck. Sure, there was one more competition, but they were still three spots below where they needed to be to get to Athens. 

The entire ride to the airport, Hedge complimented their form and their performance. He mentioned one or two things that he thought they could focus on over the next month as they prepared to travel to Salt Lake City at the end of May, but overall, he was just proud. 

Second place, after all, wasn’t too bad. 

-

7:41 PM - PERCY J:
You. Are. Amazing.

7:42 PM - ANNABETH:
What are you talking about?

7:42 PM - PERCY J:
The tournament, duh

7:42 PM - ANNABETH:
How did you see the tournament?

7:42 PM - PERCY J:
It was on pay-per-view

7:43 PM - PERCY J:
Grover came over to watch
with me and Frank

7:43 PM - ANNABETH:
Really?? 

7:43 PM - PERCY J:
Yeah really

7:43 PM - PERCY J:
I didn’t know you could
jump like that

7:43 PM - PERCY J:
That was so badass

Annabeth bit her lip, grinning at her phone like an idiot right there in the middle of the boarding line at gate C23. She flipped over to her messages with Connor (who would be smugly ribbing her if he could see her now), scrolling back to Thursday night and the photo that he’d sent from the concert. Her eyes took it in, not for the first time since the night he’d sent it to her. 

They looked at each other like any other couple might— like they’d met in a normal way, like he’d asked her on a normal date. Like they held hands in the car or went to coffee shops together on Sunday afternoons or laughed at old inside jokes. Like they’d chosen this. And for one brief moment, she thought maybe she liked the idea of that. 

Her phone vibrated again, pulling her attention back to the barrage of texts he was currently spamming her with.

7:45 PM - PERCY J:
I’m taking you out to celebrate
tomorrow, dont argue

7:45 PM - PERCY J:
Wherever you wanna go

7:47 PM - ANNABETH:
You’re ridiculous

7:47 PM - PERCY J:
Ridiculously impressed

7:47 PM - PERCY J:
I’m also serious so don’t
try to get out of it

7:47 PM - ANNABETH:
I’d never turn down a
free meal. You really don’t
know me, do you?

7:48 PM - PERCY J:
I’m trying to

7:48 PM - ANNABETH:
We’re about to board, can
I call you tomorrow?

7:48 PM - PERCY J:
Call tonight

7:48 PM - ANNABETH:
It’s gonna be late

7:48 PM - PERCY J:
I’ll be up

7:49 PM - ANNABETH:
Maybe. I’ll text you when
we land

7:49 PM - PERCY J:
I will be. Be safe

She didn’t see the next message until they touched down in Phoenix for their layover. 

Delivered 9:21 PM - PERCY J:
Miss you.

Annabeth couldn’t help it. She thumbed back to the photo again, staring at it for the tenth time in the last two hours. It was stupid, she knew, to even entertain the idea. Probably she was just letting Connor get into her head. But no matter how she tried to silence it, there was a tiny voice in the back of her head that kept telling her that maybe she did like him a little.

And was that really so bad?

art by amesliu <3

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 91

It was nearly midnight when the plane finally touched down in San Francisco, and by the time Annabeth, Piper, and Hedge had all collected their baggage and poured into three separate taxis, she was exhausted. It was four in the morning in Atlanta now and she’d been awake for nearly twenty-four hours straight. Factoring in the two games they’d played since she’d last slept, Annabeth felt that she had every right to be tired. 

Still, as she slid into the back of the cab, wanting nothing as much as she wanted sleep, she found herself reaching for her phone and scrolling through her contact list. It would only take one tap, she thought. If her thumb simply pressed the screen now, the magical waves would shoot through the air and when they’d connected with their destination, his voice would reach her ears for the first time in weeks. 

But it would be so easy to lie. She could tell him she’d been so tired that she’d simply forgotten to call as he’d requested (which wouldn’t really be a lie since she was practically falling asleep even as she continued to debate her decision). She could say that her flight had been delayed and they’d landed later than expected. And he would believe her, she knew without having to think very hard about it. 

The concerning part of her conundrum is that she couldn’t think of one realistic reason why she shouldn’t just call. Maybe it was true that she could pretend to forget, but what good would that do, really? And why shouldn’t she call him? It’s what he’d asked for, after all. And even though she was tired, even though she was more than a little nervous about removing the barrier that had come up between them, she was also looking forward to having him around again.

“Miss?” 

Annabeth looked up. The man met her eye in the reflection of the rearview mirror.

“I’ll be needing that address,” he said, his voice deep but kind.

She apologized, offering the address as the man nodded and pulled away from the curb. He reached out to turn the radio volume up slightly, a bluesy sort of tune just barely loud enough to be heard through the partition in the middle of the cab. 

It only rang twice before the dull sound cut off. “Hey, you made it,” he said, the smile in his words evident even through the phone. “Welcome home.”

“Not quite,” she laughed, leaning against the door. “I’m in a cab, but I’ll be home soon.”

“A cab?” Percy asked. “If you needed a ride, you could’ve asked, you know.”

“I don’t think that your bike has quite enough storage for all of my luggage,” Annabeth smiled. She watched the airport lights fading as they made their way back toward the heart of the city. “Besides, I wouldn’t ask you to come all the way out here in the middle of the night. You should be asleep anyway.”

“You worry too much,” he answered, sounding like he’d just plopped down onto the couch or maybe his bed. “I would've taken Frank’s car and I would’ve been happy to do it.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes even though his words brought a smile to her lips. “You have to swim in, like, five hours— why are you still awake, anyway?”

“Yeah, and you have to work. I told you I wanted to make sure you made it back okay,” Percy explained. “That, and I believe we have a date to plan.”

“We?” Annabeth laughed. “I thought you said I could pick.”

“You can, I just thought you might be open to suggestions,” he added. “I have a place in mind I think you’d like.”

“That so?” she asked, letting her head fall back against the headrest, eyes sliding closed as she waited for his response.

“Mhm,” Percy affirmed. “It’s a nice place, though. No jeans.”

“You know I own dresses, right?” 

“I’m just saying, I’ve never seen you in one,” he chuckled. “For all I know, you don’t own anything but jeans and gym clothes.”

“Well, I assure you that isn’t the case,” she sighed. “You’ve got a lot to learn.”

“Probably,” he agreed, sounding amused. “So is this you agreeing to trust my expert opinion on restaurants?”

“I can’t believe that you would offer me the opportunity to choose any restaurant in town for our celebration dinner, only to go and turn the table on me like this,” Annabeth laughed. She hated how easy it had become to joke with him— she also sort of wondered when that had happened. “But… yes. I trust you. If I’m going to wear a dress, I’ll need to drive, though.”

“That’s fine by me,” Percy said, a hint of accomplishment in the sentiment. There was a beat of silence after that, but she would swear she could hear him thinking of his next words. “I’m always down to be picked up by a pretty girl.”

A few things became abundantly clear in that instant— One, Percy was really enjoying playing into this whole flirty-teasing bit that he’d established. Maybe a bit too much. Two, he was braver on the phone than he had ever been in person (and probably she was, too). And three, whatever doubt she’d entertained as to whether she actually liked him or not was long gone, replaced by a fluttering in her stomach even as she mentally cursed herself.

She should’ve squashed the chrysalises before the butterflies formed but she hadn’t. She’d seen them growing, changing, evolving, but she’d let it linger and now they were free. Her chest swarmed with the feeling, a new and nervous sort of excitement, a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time. 

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked, forcing her to recognize the long silence that they’d been sitting in. “Thinking you’re pretty?”

Annabeth felt the heat in her cheeks, glancing at the reflection of the driver in the mirror again as if she were worried he might have heard and been witness to her embarrassment. “I guess not.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Percy said, as casual as anything. “It’d probably make me a really bad fake-boyfriend if I didn’t compliment you from time to time, right?”

“Right,” she answered, her voice feeling a bit hoarse. Annabeth sat up a little straighter, trying to compose herself for her audience of zero. “Which reminds me— we have an assignment.”

“An assignment?” he echoed, seeming both interested and amused. “Like a secret mission? Will we have codenames?”

“Will you just listen?” Annabeth laughed, rolling her eyes. “Brunner’s setting up some interview-slash-photoshoot situation in the next couple of weeks. That’s what that meeting was about— you know, the one you played hooky from?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Percy protested. “I was on my deathbed.”

“Right. And I suppose if I were to ask Frank—”

“I see no reason to involve Frank,” he interrupted.

“Yeah,” she grinned, “that’s what I thought.”

“Leave me alone,” he whined. “Tell me more about this top secret assignment. Personally, I don’t think we should rule out codenames just yet.”

“I think it’s really just the interview he’s concerned with,” she explained. “He spent a long time reminding me how important it is for us to make this look real. Mostly, he wants to be sure that we make some time to hash out our story.”

“Story?”

“Yeah, you know— how we met, how long we’ve been together,” Annabeth said. She had a fleeting thought that maybe she shouldn’t be discussing this here but the odds of this cab driver ever even seeing this magazine — much less putting two-and-two together — were probably too small to calculate. “We just need to come up with a believable story so that we can talk about it when they ask, because they’re definitely going to ask.”

“Easy,” he said. “We met at Burning Man. You lost your shoes and I carried you around for the entire week.”

Annabeth blinked. “You came up with that way too fast.”

“Maybe I’m speaking from experience,” Percy replied. 

“Are you?”

There was a loud, genuine laugh on the other end of the line. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

‘Actually,’ she thought, ‘I would.’  

In fact, Annabeth was realizing that there was a lot she wanted to know about Percy Jackson.

-

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 90

As she was getting ready for dinner, Annabeth couldn’t help but feel like they should have scheduled this not-date for another night. 

When the cab had delivered her to her apartment, she’d still been on the phone with Percy. Nearly an hour after she’d crawled into bed, they finally ended their conversation, allowing her a full three hours of sleep before she had to wake up for her morning shift. Jumping back into life after the tournament felt like leaping into ice-cold water on a sunny day and she was running on pure adrenaline by the time she walked out of practice that afternoon. 

Even as she ran her brush through her hair, she had to fight to suppress a yawn. She was utterly exhausted, and if it weren’t for the promise of seeing Percy in an hour, she might’ve given in and crawled into bed— and admitting that to herself made her really feel stupid. 

There was at least one perk to the evening: she finally had a good reason to wear the dress that she’d planned to wear on their first fake-date. The outfit that always made her feel more confident and put together was going to have to work its magic tonight, and she hoped that it was appropriate for whatever restaurant Percy had chosen. 

Her phone vibrated with an incoming message, a simple text with Percy’s address and a quick ‘see you soon’ tacked on at the end. She tapped the link and her GPS app opened automatically, showing the location of the apartment that she’d been curious about for weeks. Naturally, she found herself thinking, his place was in the Marina District, not far from the Aegis. It was one of the nicest neighborhoods in the city, so it only made sense, really. 

As she followed the directions on her screen, she was sure her beat-up Corolla stood out on the streets. It was probably even more obvious here than it was in the lot of the gym, but there was little that could be done about that now. Annabeth parallel parked on the street in front of the building and sent a quick text to let Percy know that she’d arrived.

A few seconds later, the automatic doors facing the street slid open and he stepped out. She realized suddenly that she’d never really seen him dressed up, and her mouth felt dry at the sight of him walking toward her car now. He wore a neat-pressed button down in a deep shade of green with sleeves that had been rolled to the top of his forearms, hugging his biceps perfectly. Mostly she was distracted by his hair— usually loose and wind-swept, it looked almost entirely different now as he’d taken the time to shape the curls she’d always admired into their full potential. 

She was still studying the polished version of Percy when he came to a stop at the curb. He tapped on the glass as he leaned over to peer into the passenger window. It pulled her from her stupor as she lowered the window. “It’s unlocked.”

“Do you mind if I drive?” he asked, a smile on his lips. “It’ll be easier than me trying to explain how to get there— I am shit with directions.”

“Um, yeah, that’s fine,” she nodded, unbuckling her seatbelt as she checked the mirror for traffic before stepping out of the car. They traded spots quickly, and as soon as she’d settled into the passenger seat, he carefully pulled back out onto the street. “I’m sorry about my car,” Annabeth said, a bit self-conscious. “It’s kind of a mess.”

Percy just shrugged. “It drives, doesn’t it?”

Annabeth had to laugh at that. “Usually.”

Thankfully, he just smiled. “If it means I get to see you all dressed up like that, I couldn’t care less what kind of car we’re in.” 

“You’ve been working on your lines, I see,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes as she kept her gaze pointed out over the faded hood of the car. “Should I expect more before the night is through?”

“It’s good practice,” Percy smirked. “If we’re in this for the next five months or whatever, might as well get something out of it, right?”

“I guess so,” she nodded. “Though I have to think that having a very public relationship fail so tremendously will not be the boost to your dating life that you’re hoping it will be.”

He was quiet for a moment then, and when he finally spoke, most of the humor had drained from his voice. “You’d be surprised at how little people care about anything genuine when even the smallest drop of something similar to fame is added to the mix.”

She looked at him finally, taking him in for the first time since he’d put the car into drive. It was an awkward sight— he didn’t belong behind the wheel of her junker of a car, especially not how he looked now. But when she was finally able to see past that, she noticed the crease between his brows, the slight frown on his lips. 

“Are we finally going to have that exes discussion, then?” Annabeth asked, hoping her attempt at easing the tension wouldn’t be seen as insensitive to whatever he was thinking that had caused him to put up his defenses.

Thankfully, when he glanced at her again, his eyes seemed softer, the faintest traces of that one charming dimple popping out in the corner of his mouth. “If you want.”

“I think you’re going to be sorely disappointed by my list,” she offered, pleased to see that whatever had been in his eyes a moment before seemed to have lifted. “It’s pretty short.”

“I don’t buy that for a minute,” Percy shook his head. “Don’t go shy on me now.”

“I’m not!” she laughed, shifting her body so that her back was leaning slightly against the door. “I just mean that I’ve been on lots of dates, I guess, but I’ve really only had like one real, serious relationship— and I’m not even totally sure that one counts anyway.”

“How long were you together?”

“Technically?” she mused. “Like, a year-ish. But it’s complicated.”

“Well,” he smirked, “did you sleep together?”

Her mouth fell open at his bluntness. 

“That’s a yes—”

“I told you: it’s complicated!”

“It’s really not,” Percy laughed. “If you’re wondering if this ‘one real, serious relationship’ counts, that feels like a pretty good measure, right?”

Annabeth kept her lips pressed together, hoping her annoyance was properly conveyed as she crossed her arms over her torso. 

“Feel free to disagree at any time, Chase.”

“I guess it counts, okay,” she huffed, rolling her eyes. “But it is complicated.”

He looked over at her, clearly amused. “I’m listening.”

She didn’t even know where to start with explaining what had happened with Connor. It was a bit of history they tried to keep to themselves now that most everyone they’d known in high school had drifted out of their lives, if for no other reason than it seemed to make others feel weird about their friendship. It was pretty stupid, in her opinion, but it was usually easier to just leave it be. 

“Well,” she sighed, trying to figure out the best place to begin, “you know my best friend? Connor?”

Percy laughed immediately. “No way,” he shook his head, unable to contain his grin. “No way you slept with Connor.”

Annabeth blinked. “Do you want to hear this story or not?”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Percy apologized as he pulled himself together. He made a motion like he was zipping his lips. “You have the floor.”

She waited another moment, just to make sure he was actually finished laughing. “Connor and I have been friends for, like, fifteen years. We were inseparable from the time we were just kids, and that was the way we liked it. But then, you know, we got to high school and then it was like having this really close guy-friend was some weird, foreign concept— so we thought that meant that we were probably supposed to be together.”

Annabeth kept her eyes on him, searching for any hint that he was going to laugh in her face again but she didn’t find any. “It was stupid— nothing changed. We just called each other ‘boyfriend’ and ‘girlfriend’ and we held hands or kissed sometimes. We loved each other, obviously, but it wasn’t any different then than it is now. At the time, I think we kind of just thought that’s what it was supposed to feel like,” she continued. “Neither of us had anything real to compare it to, so we thought it was normal.”

At that, Percy seemed to nod in understanding, and that made her feel a little better, at least.

She shifted her gaze away, looking up at the ceiling liner. “And yes, we slept together. Once. It was horrible.”

Percy couldn’t contain his laugh, though he made a solid effort. “Don’t worry; I won’t tell him you said that.”

“I don’t even know that it was him so much as it was just… awkward,” Annabeth said, fighting the urge to bury her reddening face in her hands. “It was just all wrong. Maybe we didn’t know what a relationship was supposed to feel like, but I think we both know it wasn’t that. So we just went back to being friends, like it never happened.”

“And that’s not weird?” Percy asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “I mean, you guys are still really close, right?”

“Yeah,” she smiled. “He’s my best friend. It’s… surprisingly easy to forget things were ever different.”

“And it was really just the once? You didn’t think maybe it was just a bad first time?”

Annabeth hesitated trying to find the right way to answer Percy’s question. “It wasn’t that it was bad,” she said carefully, “it just wasn’t right.”

“Oh, so you dumped him because the sex was good,” he nodded. “Makes complete sense.”

“Shut up,” she laughed, swatting his arm. “Connor and I were really good at being friends. We only ever did the dating thing because we thought we were supposed to. But when we realized that wasn’t the case, we still loved each other as friends, just like we always had. We didn’t really see any reason for that to change.”

He shot her a vaguely skeptical look before he flipped on the turn signal.

“Okay, fine. It was a little weird at first,” she admitted, “but that was years ago. We’re over it now.”

“Poor Connor,” Percy tsked as he pulled into the parking spot. Annabeth didn’t even have time to ask what he’d meant by that before he’d cut the ignition and hurried out of the car. She’d barely unbuckled her seatbelt when her door opened and his hand reached forward to offer her assistance. 

“Thanks,” she said quietly as she took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. Even in her heels, he was just a bit taller than her— but he didn’t meet her eyes at first. Instead, his gaze seemed to look her over, head to toe, for the first time. She remembered their first ‘date’ suddenly (the night that she’d learned that his favorite color was blue) and she felt even more grateful for the opportunity to pull the dress out of the closet again.

“You really do look beautiful,” he said, and even though she thought she was pretty good at picking out the humor in his teasing, she couldn’t find even a hint of dishonesty in his sea-green eyes. When she could do nothing but stare in return, he added, “Not that you aren’t usually— I just meant—”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling softly as she closed the passenger door. “You look nice, too.”

A few minutes later, they were settled into a quiet, tall-backed booth in the softly-lit dining room as quiet piano music played from somewhere deeper into the restaurant. She ordered a glass of wine, and waited for it to be delivered before she took a sip to steel her nerves. “Okay,” she said, feeling newly emboldened as she set the glass back onto the table. “Your turn.”

“My turn?” he asked, peeking up from behind the menu he was perusing. “When did we agree to a fair exchange?”

“Don’t make me kick you,” Annabeth threatened, crossing her arms on the table as she leaned forward eagerly. “I told you mine, you tell me yours.”

He smirked, shaking his head as he folded the menu and leaned back against the booth. “I wasn’t really in a good place for dating when I was in high school, so I mostly avoided it. There was this one girl, Cal. She was nice and all, but she was a little older than me and she wanted something way more serious than I did. I’ve dated a few girls in the last few years, but I guess I’ve really only had one serious girlfriend since Cal,” he said, which surprised her more than it probably should have. “We got together a little before the end of freshman year and we dated for about a year and a half.”

“So, kind of recently,” she mused, doing the math in her head. She noticed, with a strange sort of realization settling in her gut, that he seemed to be a little morose— something sort of mournful had drifted into his expression. If her guess was correct, they’d probably broken up within the last four or five months, which seemed like a long time but she knew how difficult it could be to get over real heartbreak. For a moment, she wondered if he might still be sore over this breakup, but she didn’t have to wonder for long. 

“Yeah, I guess,” he nodded. Percy frowned. “It, uh— it took me a while to get over it.”

She didn’t think much of it then, but she noticed how he’d said it and not her, as if the relationship were a separate entity than the girl he’d once loved. Annabeth tried to keep her expression neutral in an attempt to give him the same opportunity that he’d given her. 

“She was nice when we were together; at least, she was nice to me,” Percy said, looking down at the table. He fidgeted with the roll of silverware while he spoke. “Usually, anyway. It went on a lot longer than it should have, but I always found some kind of excuse to stay in it. She’d do something that reminded me of why I fell for her in the first place, or I’d start thinking about how she knew about my past and had stayed anyway, and how that wasn’t something I should take for granted.”

Annabeth had to bite her tongue to keep from interrupting. She wanted — needed — to tell him that he was selling himself short. The thought that Percy had stayed in a bad relationship because he (apparently) thought that no one would love him once they knew him was painful even to her. She couldn’t begin to imagine how difficult it was for him. But it wasn’t her place to say any of this, certainly not now when he was so lost in his own head— so she listened instead, letting the little flame of anger she felt toward this nameless woman smolder in her gut.

“Honestly, I know it probably sounds like it, but it wasn’t all bad. We had a lot of fun in the beginning, but the big problem was always that she never really understood the swimming thing. I think that she actually believed it was something I’d eventually get bored with and give up, and she thought my whole major was a joke and— I don’t know. After a while, it started to become obvious that she wanted me to be something that I’m not, something I’m never going to be.

“I know that she tried her best to change me, but I didn’t give in to her. I started to realize that she was a little too focused on the surface level stuff — the fancy apartment, my dad’s money, my ‘fame’,” Percy said, adding air quotes around the last word along with a roll of his eyes. “Her family is old money, and I think that she just had these expectations of a certain lifestyle that I wasn’t particularly interested in having. Eventually, it got to the point that we were constantly fighting over the stupidest things. Then one day, I came home and she was standing in my living room waiting for me. She’d told me that she’d packed all her stuff, decided that she was transferring to some art school in Portland. And she just left.”

It was quiet for a moment as Percy stared at the table and took a deep, steadying breath. “Me and Rachel,” he frowned, looking down at his lap again, “it was only ever supposed to be fun. We were never gonna work in the long run, I think I always knew that. It’s not like I thought we were gonna get married or anything, but… it still sucks to have someone tell you you’re not good enough, you know?”

Rachel. The name seared itself into her mind. The thought that anyone could look at Percy and say he wasn’t good enough was beyond her. It made her want to drive her ugly little Corolla all the way to Portland and track down the woman responsible for the sad, dejected look in his eye.

“I’m sorry, Percy,” Annabeth said simply. She didn’t know what else could be said. “I know what you mean. It’s never a good feeling.”

“It’s alright, really,” he shook his head and sat up a bit straighter. He pulled on his composure as effortlessly as if it were a sweater and the tension slowly began to dissipate. “Like I said, we weren’t good for each other. We fought constantly and hardly had anything in common, but I… I guess I loved her.” He scoffed in some kind of macabre amusement. “The real kicker was after we broke up— when all of my friends started telling me about shit she’d done and said to them that I didn’t know about. Like, she’d told Frank he was mooching and tried to convince him that he should move out.”

“No one ever said anything to you about it?”

“Not until after,” Percy shrugged, “and honestly I don’t know that it would have mattered at the time. I can’t explain it but Rachel had this grip on me. I can’t tell you how many times in the last year I’ve thought about how grateful I am that she just decided to up and walk out like that, because it probably saved me from wasting even more time on a doomed relationship. It took a while for me to figure out that I wasn’t really broken up over her, I was just so mad that she left because she’d decided I wasn’t good enough.”

Annabeth’s fingers twitched in her lap, itching to reach out and offer some sort of comfort. He didn’t seem as sad as he had a few moments ago, but there was still a tinge of bitterness in his tone, a telltale sign of the dejection he still felt. His eyes connected with hers finally and she offered him the smallest of smiles. “Her loss.”

Percy returned the smile. His lips parted to respond—

“Are we ready to order?” the perky brunette waitress asked, stepping to the end of the table. 

Their stare lingered for what felt like several long seconds before Percy finally looked away, turning his attention to the waitress. “Yeah, I think we are.”

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 90

“Are you sure he won’t mind?” Annabeth asked for the third time since they’d left the restaurant. The elevator doors slid open to reveal a long, brightly lit hallway.

Percy raised an arm to prevent the doors from closing, gesturing for her to exit the lift first. “I’m positive,” he assured her. “Frank’s probably in a COD lobby as we speak, anyway. He won’t even know we’re there.”

“Okay,” she muttered as she stepped out, her heels swinging from her fingers as they walked up the hall together. 

When Percy had suggested that they continue their conversation after dinner, she’d thought that he’d had another place in mind for them to go. But then he’d invited her up to his apartment, and… well, she couldn’t really think of a good reason not to. So she followed him from the curb through the pristine lobby and into the elevator, and trailed behind him as he led the way to his door. He turned the key and she got her first look at how the son of a mysteriously affluent Olympic legend lived. 

The apartment was as spotless as the rest of the building had been and made her pragmatically-sized apartment feel like a shoebox. Her bedroom could have fit in the kitchen twice over, and the living room on the other side of the island was double the size, made to feel even larger by the floor-to-ceiling windows on the exterior wall that looked out over the waterfront. It was reasonably decorated for being home to two twenty-one year old men, with real furniture and a large TV that (correctly, with no visible wires) hung above a gas fireplace.

She hoped her eyes weren’t too wide as she stepped into the open space, dropping her shoes to the floor and feeling the soft, plush rug beneath her toes. It was, in a word, incredible. The building was one of those ‘new but built to look old’ types, where the designers had leaned into an industrial sort of style with touches of exposed brick, tall ceilings and exposed ductwork. 

“What does the architect think?” he asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the countertop and watched her with an amused smirk. 

Annabeth managed to bring her eyes back to him and she was struck once again by how unfairly attractive he looked tonight. And now, here in this place, she could see it even more— he fit here. She remembered how odd it has been to see him behind the wheel of her old car, a stark contrast to how he looked now as he stood in the gorgeous living room. The building was a gem in its own right, but she got the distinct feeling suddenly that she wouldn’t find it half as enchanting if he weren’t in the middle of it all. “It’s beautiful.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Percy nodded. “My dad bought the unit before it was finished, so I got to have a little bit of say in the final design.”

“All I know,” she mused, turning her back to him as she crossed the living room and walked toward the tall windows, “is that you’re never coming to my place.”

“And why is that?”

“Because it makes this place look like the freaking Taj Mahal,” Annabeth laughed, looking out to realize that his windows all faced the harbor. If it weren’t for the fog, she might even be able to see the Golden Gate Bridge from here. “Why here?”

“Well,” Percy sighed, “that I didn’t really get much say in. The Aegis is only a few blocks away and dad wanted me somewhere close to the gym. Simple as that.”

Annabeth turned back slowly, looking back toward the kitchen. “Do you like it here?”

He swallowed before he smiled, his lips pressed together as the corners of his mouth pulled up. “It’s a nice view, at least.” 

“And that’s something you care about?” Annabeth smirked, taking a few steps forward. “A nice view?”

His lips twitched into a smile, an unreadable sort of amusement in his expression. A moment later he straightened, pushing away from the counter. “I’ll be right back. Make yourself comfortable— there’s drinks in the fridge,” Percy said, pointing to a door just off the kitchen as he started toward the hall, “and the bathroom is right through there.”

“Oh, um,” she nodded, “alright.”

And then he was gone. It was so quiet after he’d disappeared into what must have been his bedroom that she finally heard the sound of Frank’s low voice coming from somewhere deeper in the apartment, talking quickly in words she couldn’t quite make out. 

It would be rude to snoop, she thought, but it felt too strange to simply stand in one spot until he returned. Her eyes scanned the space again, looking briefly over the shelf of DVDs and a handful of video game cases. She wished there were more personal touches, things that she might be able to use to learn more about Percy, but the common room seemed to be mostly neutral ground.

Just as she was walking toward the bookshelf, she heard a heavy thump coming from the direction Percy had disappeared in, followed by a door opening. Another series of soft thumps came a moment later, accompanied by a sort of soft clacking. Annabeth turned toward the sound just in time to see a massive grey dog bounding down the hall. 

The dog wagged its tail so fast it was mostly a blur as it jumped toward her, resting its front paws on her stomach and sniffing her intently. Annabeth grinned, scratching it behind the ears. “Well, hello,” she laughed, looking up just as Percy returned. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”

Percy nodded, a smirk on his lips as he observed them. He’d changed clothes in the time he’d been gone, trading his button down and jeans for sweatpants and a long sleeve t-shirt. “You never asked.”

“Sorry, you just,” she chuckled, looking back at the dog who was still very intently sniffing the front of her dress, “don’t strike me as a pet person.”

“That hurts, Chase,” he shook his head, resting a hand over his heart dramatically, just like he had that night in the diner. When he whistled a moment later, the dog dropped back onto all four legs, and hurried over to Percy’s side. “Mrs. O’Leary is one of my favorite people.”

Annabeth pressed her lips together to suppress a smile. “Mrs. O’Leary?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as she fought to contain her laughter.

“Hey, listen,” he shook his head, as if he’d been anticipating her teasing. Thankfully she saw the grin forming on his lips before he continued. “I didn’t name her— she was a rescue. Frank and I tried a thousand different names but she won’t answer to anything else.”

“It’s… different,” Annabeth smiled. “I like it.”

“Good,” Percy laughed. “We were going to have an issue if you didn’t.” She noticed the wad of fabric in his arms finally, only because he was holding it out of her now. “You can change if you want. I found some things I think might fit.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t like my dress?”

“I do like that dress,” he said, a sincerity in her voice she didn’t miss. As if he’d caught it too, he cleared his throat quietly, shrugging. “I just think you’d be more comfortable. But it’s your call.”

After a moment, Annabeth nodded, stepping toward him and taking the clothes. “Thanks.”

“Mhm,” he nodded, suddenly very interested in Mrs. O’Leary. She stepped back toward the bathroom as he made his way toward the kitchen and as she closed the door behind her, she could hear food being poured into Mrs. O’Leary’s bowl. 

The bathroom off of the kitchen was a half-bath which, for an apartment, was almost unheard of even in this part of the city. It was obvious that it didn’t get used very often, with every surface sparkling and spotless, and there were (much to her nosy, plundering dismay) no personal items to snoop through. 

She set the clothes Percy had given her on the granite countertop before slipping out of her dress. When she began to pull on the borrowed clothes, she realized he must have dug deep in his closet to find something he thought wouldn’t swallow her. The t-shirt was faded and threadbare and would definitely be too small for him now, with a just-barely-visible logo on the front for Percy’s high school swim team and the name ‘JACKSON’ in bold, white lettering across the shoulders. Despite his painstaking search, the sweatpants were still too large— but she cinched the drawstring as tightly as it would pull and rolled the waistband once, making them feel mostly secure. 

She returned to the kitchen, her blue dress folded over her arm, to find Mrs. O’Leary happily chowing down on her dinner as Percy and Frank looked on. Their conversation halted as Annabeth walked in, Frank’s smile growing with acknowledgement. 

“‘Sup, Annie?” he asked and she grimaced slightly. Frank didn’t know any better, she reminded herself, but the nickname still practically made her skin crawl, even after all these years. “Oh, you’ll let Percy call you Diner Girl but Annie is too far?” 

Before she could even react, Percy shoved Frank lightly and Frank reciprocated immediately. Within a matter of seconds, their tussle ended with Frank in a headlock that Annabeth felt fairly confident he could escape if he actually wanted to. He played along regardless, his hands grasping Percy’s forearm as he tried to pull himself free.

“Fine, fine,” Frank groaned. “It won’t happen again. Can you call your boyfriend off, now?”

“No one’s called me Annie in a long time, that’s all. You can let him go, Percy,” she smiled. “I think he’s learned his lesson.”

“We’ll see,” Percy muttered, though his smile had fully returned. He relaxed his grip as Frank untangled himself and straightened. 

“I don’t know if I’m on board with this,” Frank said, reaching for the glass of water on the counter that she assumed had been the reason he’d been drawn out of his room in the first place. “You two are a dangerous combination.”

“Oh please,” Percy rolled his eyes. “Don’t you have some Nazis to shoot or something?”

“Mmm,” Frank hummed in response as he took a sip of water before shaking his head. He was already starting to make his way back toward his room. “Hellhounds, actually.” 

“Great, well, good luck with that,” he called after him. Annabeth laughed as Frank disappeared into his room, closing the door behind him. Percy seemed to be noticing her outfit change at last. “Nice shirt.”

“Thanks, it’s a rental,” she smiled, setting her dress to rest beside where Percy had left her keys on the counter. 

“You can keep it,” he shrugged. “It’s not like it fits me anyway. It’s more sentimental than anything.” 

“If it’s sentimental, why would you get rid of it?” 

“I don’t think of it as ‘getting rid of it’,” he mused, turning to open the fridge. His face was hidden by the door as he rummaged around for something. “More like… putting it somewhere I can see it.”

“What are you talking about?” she shook her head. “You’re not making any sense.”

Percy straightened, two cans of Coke in his hands as he let the door swing closed. He shrugged again as he stepped toward her, raising both cans as his shoulders moved. “It’s like, as long as it’s in a drawer somewhere, it’s out of sight, out of mind— right?”

“I guess,” Annabeth said slowly, her eyes narrowing in confusion.

“Well, if it’s not in the drawer anymore — like, let’s just say that it’s on you, for the sake of this argument — I’d get to see it,” he explained as if his bizarre train of thought made perfect sense. “And I’d get to appreciate it.”

“Why don’t you, I don’t know, frame it or something?” she asked, pulling at the hem of the shirt as she looked down to see the worn logo again. “Or have one of those t-shirt blankets made— you could put all of those little ‘gifts’ from Brunner to good use.”

He considered it for a moment. “Nah,” Percy shook his head before he placed one of the cans in her hand and popped the top on the other as he stepped past her toward the living room. “I like it better like this.”

Her eyes followed him to the couch before her feet did. It was quiet now, with Mrs. O’Leary’s loud munching providing the only sound in the room. Percy seemed to notice the silence as well, reaching into his pocket and digging out his phone. He tapped the screen a few times before music began to play from a speaker on the bookshelf that she hadn’t noticed until that moment. 

“Alright,” he said, setting his phone on the coffee table before he relaxed, angling his body toward her with one arm along the back of the couch. “We talked about school, friends, exes… What else should I know about you?”

That really was the question, wasn’t it? She wondered how much she should tell Percy about her past, not knowing if it was wise to divulge so much to someone that was so temporary in her life. It was her most closely guarded secret— if she hadn’t even told her actual friends, why should she tell him?

“I think we need to figure out what we’re going to say when people ask how we met,” she answered, crossing her legs beneath her and leaning back against the arm of the couch as she opened her soda. 

Percy glanced over his shoulder briefly before he looked back. “Maybe we should keep our voices down,” he said politely, his tone softer, “in case Frank hears us.”

“Yeah, that reminds me, actually,” Annabeth nodded, leaning forward slightly. Her voice was just above a whisper now. “Does he actually think we’re dating?”

“Well,” his eyes narrowed in confusion, “yeah. What was I supposed to tell him?”

“The truth?” she shrugged. “I told Connor the truth.”

“Really?”

Annabeth nodded. “Yeah, I mean, I had to tell someone. Haven’t you told anyone what’s actually going on?”

“No,” Percy shook his head, genuinely looking as though the thought had never even occurred to him. “No, everyone thinks it’s real.”

“So what did you tell him?” she asked. “He was literally there when we met.”

“Yeah, exactly. When he found out we were going on a date, he asked me how I’d worn you down,” he answered, smiling a bit. “I just told him that you’d given me your number when I was paying for our dinner that night and we’d hit it off.”

“Wow, and he believed you?” she teased, taking a sip. 

“Are you gonna tell me we didn’t hit it off?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Percy smirked, balancing the soda can on his knee. “As far as Frank is concerned, it was love at first sight. I think I caught him planning our wedding the other day.”

“Poor guy,” she said thoughtfully. “He’s going to be heartbroken in August.”

Percy stared back at her with an unreadable expression. Finally, he opened his mouth again. “Anyway,” he said, shrugging his shoulders a bit, “I guess we should just go with that story. It’s mostly true, anyway.”

“So, we met at the diner and I gave you my number,” Annabeth nodded. That was easy enough. And he was right— with it being only slightly different from the actual story of how they’d met, it was probably the safest bet. Not that she really expected anyone to call them out or anything, but it was easier for her to feel more at peace knowing that she wouldn’t be totally lying. 

“Can I ask you something?”

“Isn’t that why we’re doing this?” Annabeth laughed. 

“I guess so.” Percy looked at his hands, at the ring of darkened fabric on his knee from the condensation on the can. “Why didn’t you?”

Annabeth tilted her head. “What?”

“Why didn’t you want to give me your number?” he asked, still fixated on the Coke. “You didn’t even want me to know your name.”

“I guess I just…” she shook her head searching for an answer, “I didn’t have time. Even if I’d wanted you to ask me out, I don’t think it would’ve worked.” Once again, the mostly true answers fell from her lips easily. 

“But we’re doing this now,” he continued. “We’ve been out a few times.”

“It was sort of self-fulfilling,” Annabeth explained. “I have time for stuff like this now because of the whole arrangement or whatever. Getting that scholarship let me quit working at the coffee shop, remember? I have free time now that I didn’t have then.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “right.” 

“Are you… Are you upset with me?”

“No,” he said quickly, looking up finally. “No, I’m not upset. I guess I just thought that it was weird how easily we’ve gotten to know each other and how much I enjoy spending time with you, when you didn’t even want to get to know me in the first place.”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to get to know you,” Annabeth replied, feeling her cheeks warming slightly. “I just didn’t think it would’ve been fair to give you the wrong idea.”

“I see.” Percy looked over as Mrs. O’Leary began to make her way toward the couch, her massive paws plopping on the wooden floor. He patted the cushion between Annabeth and himself and the dog hopped up, curling into the smallest ball she could manage and resting her head in Annabeth’s lap. “Wow,” he shook his head. “Traitor.”

“She’s sweet,” Annabeth smiled, running her hand over Mrs. O’Leary’s shiny, dark grey coat. “What kind of dog is she?”

“No clue,” Percy said with a laugh. “She’s a mix for sure. Frank thinks there’s some Great Dane in there, ‘cause of the ears. I think she’s mostly Mastiff.” 

“Whatever she is, she’s perfect,” she said, smiling down at the dog again before she looked back up. “I always wanted a dog but my stepmom is allergic, so I’ve always liked knowing people with dogs.”

“So now you’re not only using me for a scholarship,” Percy mused, his tone full of mirth, “but you’re trying to steal my dog, too.”

Annabeth shrugged. “If you were nicer to her, she wouldn’t be so quick to switch loyalties.” 

“Hey, easy, Diner Girl,” he protested. “I saved her from a life in a kennel; I give her plenty of food, share my bed—”

“She sleeps in your bed?” Annabeth smirked. 

“Unimportant,” Percy deflected. “Just rest assured that Mrs. O’Leary is very well cared for.”

“Whatever you say,” she laughed as the dog stretched her legs, causing Percy to lean away from the paw that was now in his face.

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he said, gently nudging Mrs. O’Leary’s leg away, “how were the rankings?”

Annabeth sighed. “We moved up but not much; just one spot,” she replied. “We were seventeenth in today’s release.”

“And you need to break the top fifteen, right?”

She’d tried not to think too much about the rankings that had been published that afternoon since they’d been pretty disappointing. After the near-sweep that she and Piper pulled off, she’d expected them to be firmly within the top fifteen now. “Right.”

“Salt Lake City is going to be a big one, then,” Percy shook his head. Annabeth tried to remember if she’d told him about the tournament before, wondered when he’d made himself familiar with her schedule. “But you’ll kill it. I still can’t get over how—”

Percy’s train of thought was cut short by a rapping on the door. Mrs. O’Leary lifted her head at the sound but made no other indication that she cared. Percy’s face showed his confusion as he stood and started toward the door. It was just shy of nine o’clock which wasn’t exactly late, but it did feel like an odd time for someone to drop by unannounced.

Annabeth watched as the door opened and Percy’s smile returned. “Hey, mom.”

There was a soft reply that she couldn’t quite make out as Percy stepped out of the way and the figure of a much shorter person carrying a medium-sized box made their way through the doorway. Bright eyes landed on Annabeth at last, glancing back to Percy quickly. “Oh, Perce, I’m sorry— I didn’t know you had company.”

“It’s okay,” Percy shook his head, closing the door and gesturing toward the living room where Annabeth was already getting to her feet. “This is Annabeth.”

“Annabeth,” Percy’s mom repeated as she set the box on the counter and looked back at Annabeth, “what a pretty name. You look familiar, hon. Have we met before?”

“Um, sort of— I work at Medea’s,” Annabeth smiled softly, suddenly feeling extremely awkward to be meeting Percy’s mother, especially dressed the way that she was. Sally nodded as if she was remembering her now. “But it’s nice to officially meet you, Ms. Jackson—”

“Please, call me Sally,” she said with a wave of her hand as she turned back toward the kitchen. “I didn’t mean to interrupt; I just stopped by to drop off some leftover bagels for the boys.”

“Mom, you’re not interrupting anything,” Percy rolled his eyes. “We were just talking about Annabeth’s tournament from this past weekend.”

Sally nodded as she opened the box and set to unpacking the contents, setting several smaller boxes on the counter. “The one you had everyone over to watch?”

“I wouldn’t say ‘everyone’,” he muttered in response. “Just Grover.”

“Well, I think it was a good idea. I’m sad you didn’t think to invite your mother—”

“Mom,” Percy groaned, running a hand over his face. “You can come watch the next one, alright?”

A door opened and Frank appeared suddenly, pulling a headset from his ears to rest around his neck. “Hey, Sal,” he beamed, stepping in and hugging Sally as naturally as he might have hugged his own mother. “I thought I heard you come in.”

“I should have called first,” she said, giving Frank a pat on the back before she gestured to the buffet of day-old bakery goods. “I just wanted to drop some things off.”

“Well,” Frank shrugged, prying open one of the boxes and pulling out a croissant. He bit off nearly half of it in one bite, talking through his chewing. “You finally get to meet Percy’s girlfriend, so it was good timing.”

Sally’s eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline. “Girlfriend?”

Percy glared at Frank for a moment before looking back at his mom. “It’s new.”

Annabeth felt extremely out of place again, as if she were merely observing the interaction from the other side of a television screen. Already, even with their brief interaction, Annabeth could tell that Sally was completely different from her father or step-mother— that she was warm and involved and that she cared to keep up with her son’s life. She realized now that she hadn’t even spoken to her own father since his birthday back in February. 

Sally stepped away from the counter, her eyes fixed on Annabeth. “I’m sorry that we had to meet like this,” she said, giving her a smile. “I hope I’m not intruding.”

“You’re not,” Annabeth shook her head quickly. Over Sally’s shoulder, she could see Percy scowling and muttering something to Frank. “We were just hanging out.”

Now that she was closer, Annabeth could really see the resemblance. Percy had his mother’s gentle curls, though hers were a much lighter shade of rich brown, and when she smiled, she noticed that Sally had the same asymmetrical dimple as her son. Her eyes were kind and soft, a cool shade of light blue framed by smile lines and a smattering of faint freckles that made her entire countenance feel like a warm, summer afternoon.

“It’s very nice to meet you, anyway,” Sally smiled. “Percy told me that he was seeing someone but he didn’t tell me it was serious.”

Frank chuckled and Percy pinched the bridge of his nose. “Mom, please.”

“He also failed to tell me how pretty you are,” she continued, unfazed. Sally took another step forward, pulling a stand of Annabeth’s hair gently through her fingers. “Look at these curls!”

Annabeth could only smile, laughing slightly as she noticed Percy elbowing Frank again. Sally’s warmth was contagious, melting the awkward stiffness easily. Apparently feeling left out of the fun, Mrs. O’Leary hopped off of the couch at last, walking over to Sally’s side. 

“I swear you must abuse this dog when I’m not here,” she said, crouching down to give Mrs. O’Leary a proper greeting. “She’s always so attention starved.”

“Yeah, you figured me out, mom,” Percy shook his head. “She’s definitely not spoiled rotten or anything.” 

“That’s what I thought,” Sally grinned, giving the dog one more scratch before she straightened. “Well, I don’t want to keep you too long; like I said, I just wanted to drop these by.”

Frank had already popped the other half of the croissant into his mouth. “Thanks, Sally.”

“It’s no trouble at all; they’d just go bad otherwise,” she shook her head as she made her way back toward the kitchen. “Percy, honey, you’ve got a meet this weekend, right?”

He nodded. “Saturday morning.”

“Annabeth, should I save you a seat?”

“Mom, Annabeth has her own thing going on right now,” Percy interrupted before Annabeth had a chance to respond. “She’s got practice on Saturdays.”

“He’s right, unfortunately,” she frowned as Sally looked back at her. “Normally, I could probably get out of it, but we’ve got a huge tournament coming up and it’s the last one before the Olympic rankings are final.”

Sally’s brow raised again. “You’re going to the Olympics, too?”

“Hoping to,” Annabeth smiled. “That’s why this last tournament is so important.”

“What do you play?”

“Beach volleyball.”

“Oh, I used to love volleyball— my friends and I would drive out to Long Island in the summer to play on the beach,” Sally said fondly. She looked back toward her son. “That’s how I met your father, you know.”

“Yes, mom, I know,” he said unenthusiastically. “What a lucky day that must have been.”

“Watch your tone,” she warned. Sally was already moving toward him, her hand reaching up to cup his cheek. She barely came to Percy’s shoulder, but his usually commanding presence seemed to melt at her touch. For a split second, his eyes softened and he was a boy again— looking at his mother like she was the greatest person in the world. “He might not have been the best person, but he gave me you.”

Annabeth met Frank’s gaze and he offered her a knowing smile before he nodded, pulling his headset back up onto his ears as he slipped back toward his room quietly. Percy said something to his mom in a softer tone and Annabeth decided to give her attention to Mrs. O’Leary and attempt to give them some semblance of privacy. 

She settled onto the couch, calling the dog up beside her. As she tried to keep her focus on Mrs. O’Leary so as not to eavesdrop, all she could think about was Sally and how unfair her life had been. All she’d done was make the mistake of trusting. She’d trusted Percy’s father to be a decent person, only to have him disappear when she needed him most. She’d trusted Gabe to be who he’d said he was, to be a good husband and stepfather, and he’d turned on both of them in the worst of ways. 

Sally Jackson had put her faith into other people again and again, only to be let down. But she still trusted, still let people try to prove themselves, even when she had every reason to be cold. Annabeth thought that there was a special sort of magic in having a heart like that, and seeing how much Percy clearly looked up to his mother, she felt like maybe she understood him a little better now, too. 

“It was so good to meet you, Annabeth,” Sally called, pulling her attention away from Mrs. O’Leary. “I hope I’ll see you again soon.”

“I’m sure you will,” Annabeth nodded. “Be safe getting home.”

Sally smiled and said something to Percy before she stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. A moment later, the door closed behind her and it was quiet again. 

“I’m, uh,” Percy said, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m sorry about that.”

“Why?” she asked, her brow furrowing. 

“My mom,” he sighed, walking back out toward the living room. “She’s great, but she can be a lot to take in, sometimes. And I know that you probably weren’t really planning on meeting her or anything like that.”

“I mean,” Annabeth shrugged, “she’s your mom, Percy. I probably would’ve met her eventually.”

“I don’t usually let her meet anyone I’m dating,” he explained as he returned to his spot on the couch. “She makes a big deal out of it. Gets her hopes up. I figured that this was probably not the time for that to change, since I’m sure she’ll like you more than she likes me, and then she’ll just be upset when it’s over.”

The question was on her lips before she could stop it. “Did she like Rachel?”

Percy frowned. “Not really.” 

“Why not?”

Percy seemed to think about his answer for a while, staring at the empty coffee table. “Kind of the same reasons that we talked about at dinner. Rachel wasn’t really endgame material, you know? We didn’t have a ton in common, we didn’t see eye to eye on a lot— but it was fine at the time because neither of us was really planning on it lasting forever or anything.”

“And your mom didn’t like that.”

Shrugging slightly, Percy shook his head. “Rachel was cold and kind of manipulative. My mom saw it long before I did.” He frowned, his brow knitting. “She thought it was a waste of time and that I was setting myself up to get hurt. And, as usual, she was right on both counts.”

Annabeth didn’t quite know how to respond to that. They sat in silence for a while, the only sound in the room coming from the soft snoring as Mrs. O’Leary fell asleep with her head in Annabeth’s lap. 

“For what it’s worth,” she said quietly, once she’d finally mustered the nerve, “I think that anyone who believes that you’re not good enough is out of their minds. It sounds like you dodged a real bullet.”

He exhaled in a bit of a laugh, a smile pulling up the corners of his mouth. “I appreciate that, Chase.” 

“And…” she bit her lip, her pause causing him to look up, “I’m glad we did this.” She gestured between them. “I’m glad that we both agreed to this stupid plan, I mean. I don’t know that we would’ve gotten to know each other if we hadn’t.”

“Not to sound like an ass or anything, but I’ve never really had girl friends. It’s kind of nice though, isn’t it?” he asked. “Just hanging out?”

The emphasis he placed on friends wasn’t lost on her and she was reminded, once again, about their expiration date. In a few months, this would all be over. Maybe they’d still be friends on the other side of August, but she wasn’t confident that she’d want to be his friend— not now that she knew how it felt just to pretend to be more. 

She wasn’t supposed to develop feelings for him. In fact, when they’d agreed to this a month before, it had felt like it was going to be torturous just to pretend to tolerate him. But the more time she spent with Percy, the more she found herself thinking how cruel fate had been by showing her this person, only to place them just beyond her reach. 

Their relationship was laced with terms and conditions, fine print filling every space. None of it was real— not the dates, not the photos, not the way he’d held her waist that night in San Jose. She was, just as he’d done with Rachel, setting herself up to be hurt; enjoying the fall even as she barreled towards the end point. For now, though, she could pretend. For now, maybe friends was enough.

She nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 86

Annabeth arrived on campus way too early. To be entirely fair, she usually tried to make sure that she was early whenever she was nervous— and she was definitely nervous that morning. 

The day started off strong when she’d all but had a meltdown in front of her closet because she hadn’t known what to wear. What did they expect from her? Would it even matter what she wore? It’s not like they were taking any photos during the interview. Oh, God— what if they wanted to take photos during the interview? Surely she’d be expected to dress a certain way, even though no one had told her what to wear. 

She’d sent a text to Percy who had tried to assist but ultimately been unhelpful. He informed her that he was going to be coming straight from class, and since he had a presentation that morning, he’d already be a bit more dressed up than he would be on a typical day. That only managed to make her more nervous. 

At some point during her panic, Katie had popped by to help and, after a few tries, they settled on what Annabeth hoped was a reasonable outfit: a blazer with a graphic tee layered underneath, paired with black jeans and boots. It was a passable middle ground, she thought— and hopefully the blazer would make up for the fact that she’d dallied in indecision for so long that she barely had time to pull her hair into a bun that looked somewhat intentional before she had to hurry out the door.

Even still, she was the first to arrive, taking a seat at the long table in one of the vacant conference rooms down the hall from Brunner’s office. For the first time, she wondered if he would be making an appearance as well; perhaps he would drop by to see how his little experiment was going. That thought only served to annoy her. 

Her leg bounced nervously, her hands wringing in her lap as she waited. In her mind, she reviewed all of the details that she and Percy had discussed over the last several days. Their dinner date felt like it had been ages ago, despite having only been a few days, but they’d talked enough in the time between that she felt reasonably confident she’d gleaned enough information to make it through the interview. 

Percy hadn’t been so sure. He’d wanted them to get together again, but with finals fast approaching, she was swamped with schoolwork that she’d been putting off for too long and didn’t realistically have time to spare. (It wouldn’t have done either of them any good for her to say it, but she would much rather have spent time at his apartment than be buried in a stack of textbooks.)

The conference room door clicked open and Percy entered, wearing a pale blue button down and khakis that fit him perfectly. He wasn’t alone, however— a tall black woman with her hair in long twists followed right behind him, laughing at what Annabeth assumed had been something Percy had said. Percy shot her a wink, walking around and sliding easily into the empty seat beside her. 

“You must be Annabeth,” the woman asked, holding out a hand. She grinned as Annabeth accepted the handshake. “I’m Chloe Roth; I’ll be the one interviewing you today.” 

“It’s nice to meet you,” Annabeth smiled, hoping that she sounded genuine despite how much she did not want to be there. “And I guess you already met Percy.”

“Oh, yes,” Chloe nodded. “We met in the elevator. He’s quite the charmer, I’d say.” 

“He is, isn't he?” she smirked, nudging Percy. 

She tried to remind herself that this woman was meant to believe that they were together— not just together, but, by all accounts, in love. That was probably the only reason she was able to keep from blushing when he smiled at her and said, “You of all people should know.”

Chloe just grinned again, her media-trained smile plastered on perfectly as she settled into a chair opposite them. She fished around in her bag for a moment before pulling out a thin laptop and a small black digital recorder, placing both on the table. 

“This isn’t anything especially formal,” she said as she opened her laptop and typed in her password. “We just want to get to know you both a little and share some highlights of your respective journeys. My editors are really excited about this— you guys are going to be the cover story for our June issue!”

Percy just nodded with an impressed expression, his eyebrows slightly raised. “Wow, you really didn’t have anything better to talk about than us?” he laughed.

“Oh, you two are gaining a lot of buzz,” Chloe said, looking up with a more serious expression on her face. “I’ve been following several forums that are very interested in the dynamics or your relationship and how it has played into your performance the past few months.”

Annabeth looked instinctively to her right, only to find that Percy was already eyeing her. “We try to steer clear of those kinds of sites,” she said, looking back at the reporter. “Constantly hearing everyone’s opinions just adds a lot of undue stress.”

“I completely understand. Before we get too much farther into this, I just need to confirm that you are both comfortable with our conversation being recorded. Is that alright?” Once both Annabeth and Percy had agreed, Chloe reached forward and pressed a button on the recorder. “So you said that being a topic of discussion puts a lot of stress on you, Annabeth. Could you elaborate?”

She nodded. “Percy and I didn’t intend for this to be some big secret,” she said, the lies forming on her tongue easily. “We just wanted privacy while we were getting to know each other, same as anyone else would. After Percy posted that picture of me a while back, things got a little crazy. We didn’t expect that kind of attention and it was sort of… surprising.”

“I can’t imagine that this is something new for you, Percy,” Chloe said, turning her attention to him. “I seem to recall quite a bit of conversation around you four years ago as well.”

“You could say that,” he allowed, shrugging slightly. He was so natural, so much more composed than she was. It was like he’d done this a thousand times before. “I turned all of my messages and notifications off a long time ago. It can really get in your head if you let it. I mean, yeah, I got a lot of this same thing back then, but I’m not sure that you ever really get used to people caring so much about your private life.”

Annabeth listened, hearing the sincerity behind the words. She knew that he meant it, even as he laced the lie through the truth. 

“We’re just two people, you know,” Percy said, looking at Annabeth now. “It never really occurred to us that there might be some kind of stir once we decided to be more public about our relationship. We met just like anyone else would, hung out, hit it off— we just both happen to have our sights set on Athens.”

“Two athletes of your caliber coming from the same University is certainly no small feat either,” Chloe nodded, her fingers flying across the keys as she jotted a few notes down. “Did your athletic goals affect your college decisions at all?” 

“Absolutely,” Annabeth answered confidently. This was the important part, she knew. This was the part that Brunner would critique them on once the story was printed in a few weeks. This was the thing that they really had to sell. “I played volleyball in high school — hardcourt, but only because my school didn’t have a beach team — and I always knew that I wanted to play for the Eagles one day.”

“But you are not currently a part of the team, is that correct?” Chloe asked. “You are privately trained?”

“That’s right,” Annabeth nodded. “But it was a difficult call to make. I was recruited out of high school and I played with the University’s team for my first year here, but once I’d decided that I wanted to try and start competing in the FIVB again, it made more sense for me to switch to a private facility where I could focus on beach play. I owe my old teammates and coaches a lot, though. They taught me how to compete at a much higher level than I’d ever played at in high school. I wouldn’t be the athlete I am today without their guidance.”

“I’m sure that they’d be very happy to hear that. What about you, Percy?” she continued. “You’re still an active member of the swim team, I see.”

“I am,” Percy smiled. “The team is like a family to me. They’ve been nothing but supportive throughout this entire season and I know that they’re all rooting for me.”

Chloe looked at her keyboard again as she nodded absently, typing quickly before she looked up again. “Tell me a little about your routines— how do you balance your training schedules with your relationship?”

“I’m a morning person,” he answered automatically, his smile returning once more, dimple and all. “I’m in the pool by five or so usually, so I’ve already gotten most of my training in by the time the rest of the world wakes up. But honestly it’s nothing compared to what Annabeth does.”

“What do you mean?” the reporter asked. Annabeth turned her head to look at him, her cheeks feeling a bit warm. 

“Well, she’s up just as early as me, but she goes to work. She’s on her feet for hours and then she goes straight to class,” he explained. He looked over at her, a softness in his eyes that felt like an embrace. “And after class, she goes to the Aegis where she trains and practices for at least three more hours. And she somehow balances all of that with her schoolwork and still manages to make time for me.” 

Chloe folded her hands in front of her, smiling softly. “It sounds like you really admire her.”

“I do,” Percy said, his eyes still on her. “Annabeth is amazing. I don’t know how she does it.”

Annabeth looked back at Chloe, certain that she’d implode if she stared at Percy for a moment longer. “He’s exaggerating.”

“I’m not,” he protested. “But I should know better than to expect you to take a compliment, right?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes at his teasing and Chloe laughed quietly before looking back over her notes. “I guess that busy schedule keeps you pretty tied up,” she mused. “I suppose that’s why we haven’t seen you out and about too much.”

“We make time for each other,” Percy assured her. “But we’re kind of homebodies, I guess.”

“Oh, yeah,” Annabeth nodded, extremely grateful to have the spotlight shifted off of her for a moment. She glanced at Percy as she concocted her next response. “We’re usually at either his place or my place— well, usually his place. I have three roommates and one of them is in a band, so it can be a little chaotic on my side.”

“Do you have any roommates?” she asked Percy.

“Just one, but he’s more like a brother,” he answered. 

“Excuse me,” Annabeth interjected, poking Percy in the arm. “You have two roommates.”

“Ah, yes, how could I forget,” he beamed. “I also have a dog. She’s definitely part of the family, though I think she likes Annabeth the best.”

“How sweet,” Chloe smiled, typing away. “I’d love to see some photos of her later. If you can get me a good one in the next week or so, we might even be able to run it with the piece. Readers love to see that sort of thing, you know— helps them see you as real people.”

“Sure, I can do that,” he shrugged. Annabeth was already envisioning the photo she’d no doubt be asked to assist with. Maybe they could even track down a Mrs. O’Leary sized Eagles jersey— Brunner would love that.

Chloe seemed to like that answer. Her eyes were bright when she looked back up. “Being two promising athletes, do you find yourselves ever feeling like you’re in competition with each other?”

“Not at all,” Percy said automatically. “I’m her biggest fan, and I’d like to think that she feels the same.”

Annabeth nodded in agreement. “We’re a team. There’s nothing to be competitive over— we make each other better.” 

‘God, that sounded good,’ she thought to herself, and from the look on Chloe’s face, it had been the exact right thing to say. ‘Brunner better be ready to kiss my ass when this thing goes public.’

Percy eyed her curiously as Chloe keyed in a few more notes. “I do have a few questions that are more individualized,” she said, looking away from her laptop again. “I hope that’s alright?”

Both Annabeth and Percy nodded. She hadn’t realized it until that moment, but she wasn’t feeling especially nervous anymore. Talking to Chloe didn’t feel all that different from talking to a friend, really. And aside from that, something about Percy’s laid back attitude had managed to calm her nerves as well, and she felt more at ease just knowing that he was there. 

“Well, Percy,” Chloe said, smiling at him, “I guess we’ll start with you then.” 

She began with a few softball questions— asking about where he grew up and whether or not he had any other hobbies. He told her about his mom’s bakery and how she’d taught him to cook and bake and they talked a little about his training regimen before Chloe steered the conversation toward his past accomplishments. 

“You were only seventeen at the time of the Rio games, is that correct?” she asked, sounding appropriately impressed. Percy nodded and gave her a shy smile. “I mean, that had to be terrifying, right? What was it like to compete at the Olympics at such a young age?”

“It was kind of wild, honestly,” he laughed uneasily, shifting in his seat. He didn’t really seem to like answering questions about himself anymore than she did and that was, for some reason, surprising to her. “I was definitely not prepared for how quickly everything moved and how demanding it could all be. I’d always been the best swimmer on my team and I think that I felt like that made me good enough— but in Rio, some of the guys I was swimming with were twice my age and had been training since before I was born. It’s always been so natural and easy for me, so it was really humbling to get in the water with some of the best swimmers in the world.”

“You still brought some medals home, though— I don’t think that’s anything to shrug at.” Chloe looked at her screen again before she tapped the keyboard and made a few more notes. “How do you think you can best contribute to the US team?”

“I’m best with sprints for sure. I don’t mind subbing in for longer distances on occasion when the school team needs me, but I’d never try it at the Olympic level,” Percy said, laughing slightly. He gave the answer easily with a smile that told Chloe he was well aware of both his strengths and weaknesses. “My medals are all in short races— my silver’s from the 50 free and the two bronze are from the 100 and 200 free.”

“And should we expect to see you in those same events this summer?”

Percy nodded. “I’m going to be swimming in four events in Omaha in June— those three, and I’m going to try for the 400 free as well. I’m hoping I’ll be able to qualify with at least one of them.”

“Do you think that your previous visit to the games will give you an advantage this year?” she asked. “Being so young last time and still having such an impressive first showing was quite the upset.”

“I’m sure that it will feel a little less terrifying this time— if I qualify of course,” he smiled politely. “Rio was great and I still feel good about my results from four years ago, but mostly I think it was a really necessary learning experience.”

“Interesting,” Chloe said, tilting her head. “How do you mean?”

“Well, for one, I know what to expect now,” Percy explained. “To be totally honest with you, I sort of feel like I got lucky last time. I definitely wasn’t ready — physically or mentally — and I probably shouldn’t have done as well as I did. But I’m not going to be nearly as caught off guard this year. Plus, I’ll have Beth with me, hopefully.”

She practically whipped her head toward him at the sound of the nickname, brand new in her ears. He swallowed as if he hadn’t actually meant to say it, an apologetic look in his eye. Chloe seemed unfazed, however, continuing her line of questioning without missing a beat. 

“I’m sure that’s very exciting for both of you— being able to cheer each other on,” she commented, grinning over the top of her screen. “Can we expect to see you in Omaha as well, Annabeth?”

“I—” Annabeth glanced at her side, hoping for a bailout.

“We’re not entirely sure about the specifics,” Percy answered quickly, seeming to sense her brief panic. “It sort of hinges on what Annabeth’s schedule looks like when qualifiers roll around.” He gave her a knowing look, an unspoken meaning in his words that only he and Annabeth would hear. 

The national Olympic qualifiers were held in Nebraska, usually around the end of June and early July— which meant that the FIVB Olympic rankings would be finalized by then. If she and Piper had earned their spot on the US team, it wasn’t likely that she’d be able to go even if she wanted to. She’d need to be here, in San Francisco where she could train as much as possible before they left for Athens. But if they didn’t —

“I’d love to be there,” Annabeth said, pushing down her own anxieties as she smiled at Percy. “It all depends on how things shake out over the next couple of months, but I’ll be cheering for him either way.”

“What’s after this for you, Percy?” Chloe continued. “Do you see yourself continuing to swim for the US Team?” 

“Oh, absolutely,” Percy nodded. “For as long as they’ll have me.”

“So this is a career for you,” she said thoughtfully.

“I hope so. My goal is to continue to train and compete, of course, but I want to work with other swimmers, mostly,” he explained. “I’d love to coach and maybe eventually help some other kids get to the Olympics, too.”

Chloe gave Percy a polite nod before she looked back at her screen. She typed a few more words before her eyes scanned over whatever questions she’d prepared, swallowing before she looked back up. Annabeth took a steadying breath and returned Chloe’s bright smile. 

“Annabeth,” she said, defining a clear transition in the conversation, “can you tell me a little bit about your journey the past few years? It’s been a bit of a rough road for you.”

“Well, I don’t know that I’d call it a ‘rough road’, exactly,” she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. She tucked her legs beneath her chair, trying to appear as confident as possible despite the fact that her fingers were twitching nervously in her lap. “I took a slight detour but I’m back on track now and my teammate and I are very excited about our chances.”

“Right, but you didn’t always feel that way,” the reporter said matter-of-factly, as if she knew all there was to know about Annabeth’s decisions and wants. “Two and a half years ago, you weren’t doing any training outside of your practices with the University’s hardcourt team, is that correct?”

“Um,” Annabeth stammered, blinking. She was caught off guard by how much this reporter seemed to know about her. “Yes, that’s true. But it was only because I hadn’t decided to return to beach volleyball at the time. Playing with the school team kept my skills sharp, but once I made the decision to rejoin the FIVB, I signed on with Piper and we began training at the Aegis.” 

“Piper McLean.” Chloe pondered the name, glancing briefly at her notes again. “She’s something of a comeback kid as well, I hear.”

“You could say that, I suppose,” she shrugged. The smiles that had been given so freely by Chloe during the first part of their interview seemed to have run out, replaced by a stern, inquisitorial look. “She sustained a significant injury around the same time that I stepped back from competition. It’s been an incredible privilege to watch her recovery and return.”

“Do you feel that she has held you back in your own return to the sport?”

“What? No, not at all,” Annabeth balked, shaking her head. “Piper is the reason that I’ve improved so much in such a short amount of time. If I hadn’t had the opportunity to partner with her and Coach Hedge, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

Chloe pursed her lips thoughtfully. “So, you’d say that Piper and your coach are pivotal to your successes as an athlete?”

Her brow furrowed slightly. The question seemed absurd to Annabeth and the answer was obvious. “Of course.”

“Is that why you pulled out of the Olympic pool four years ago?” Chloe asked. “Did you feel that you were not being adequately supported by your former teammate and coach?

Annabeth’s throat seemed to dry up instantly, her mouth feeling full of cotton. A heat rose on her neck as she tried to think of how to respond. She hadn’t been prepared to answer such direct questions about her past, though in hindsight she probably should have expected it. She managed to open her mouth while trying to maintain a neutral expression, despite the nausea building in her throat. At her side, Percy straightened, and she felt the weight of his heavy gaze on her though she kept her eyes fixed on the reporter.

“My issues at the time were personal. I was young and, as Percy sort of talked about before, it can be really disarming to find yourself with so much pressure on your shoulders,” she said carefully, her hands trembling. The truth wrapped a hand around her throat. “I was just a kid. I had a lot going on and I wasn’t mentally prepared to compete on such an advanced level. It wasn’t fair to Silena, I know that.”

Percy frowned. “Annabeth—”

“It’s alright, Percy,” Annabeth said, brushing him off. She locked eyes with Chloe, feeling the next question before it was even given breath. Annabeth braced herself.

“Why did you decide to stop training under Luke Castellan?” 

The words hit her like a bucket of ice water, shocking her system and chilling her from head to toe. She was so shaken that she almost didn’t feel Percy’s hand coming to rest on her thigh, his thumb rubbing a smooth line over the dark denim. When she looked up at him he seemed confused but encouraging, like he was ready and willing to do whatever she wanted to do. The look in his eyes told her plainly that if she didn’t want to answer, if she stood and walked out of the room right then, he would follow her without question. 

Maybe that’s what gave her the conviction to look back at Chloe, forcing a tense smile onto her lips. “Coach Castellan and I,” Annabeth began, her voice shaking around the mention of the name she hadn’t spoken aloud in years, “had… irreconcilable differences. We didn’t see eye to eye and when I decided to come back to competition, I thought it would be for the best for everyone involved if I sought training elsewhere.”

“Interesting,” she said, not for the first time. Chloe tapped on the trackpad of her laptop a few times. “In preparation for this conversation, a representative from my editorial team reached out to Luke for a statement. He maintains that he is, to this day, unaware of your reasons for quitting.”

“I didn’t quit,” Annabeth spat, a bit too harshly. She bit her tongue, her breaths shaky. She hadn’t realized how upset she’d become until that moment, feeling the panic swelling in her chest. “There were just some issues in my life that were preventing me from playing at my best. It was complicated. But I… I didn’t just quit.”

Chloe sucked a breath through her teeth in an almost patronizing manner. “It certainly sounds like you did, Annabeth.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Percy said, shaking his head. “This isn’t relevant. She told you that she regrets the way things happened before— why do you need to harp on this?”

“I’m sorry, Percy, but Annabeth’s departure is relevant to the story—”

“No, it isn’t,” he snapped. She heard the bite in his voice, felt his hand squeeze her leg gently. “She finished second at a national tournament last weekend. She’s ranked seventeenth in the world. That’s the kind of shit that’s relevant, ask her questions about that. ”

A deafening silence followed his words as he and Chloe continue to stare at each other from across the conference room table. 

Percy sneered. “But you don’t want to know anything about that, do you? You just wanna dredge up something that happened four years ago.”

Chloe swallowed, lifting her chin. “I’m sorry to have upset you, but my editor—”

“Turn it off,” he demanded, gesturing to the recording device. 

Annabeth covered his hand with her own. “Percy—”

“No, Annabeth, this isn’t okay,” he scowled. “She’s ambushing you.”

“Mr. Jackson, I can’t just stop—”

“Turn it off,” he growled, slamming his other hand down onto the table. Chloe scrambled quickly at his outburst, pressing the button on the small recorder. “We’re finished here,” Percy said, his eyes cold as he looked back across the table. “You can use what you have, but we get approval before this runs.”

“That’s not…” she shook her head. “I’m sorry, that’s not how this works. We don’t require party approval on interview pieces.”

“Well, maybe that would fly if this had been a legitimate interview, but this was an ambush. And if you think I’m going to stand by and let you do this to her, you’re out of your mind,” Percy said, his voice clear and definitive. “You’re not going to spin this into some mysterious gossip piece to boost your ratings. You’ll send us the story beforehand or you won't run anything.”

“I’m afraid that we don’t operate that way,” Chloe said quietly, avoiding making direct eye contact with him. “It’s not our practice to send stories for approval before printing.”

Percy nodded as if he’d expected as much, giving Annabeth’s leg one more squeeze before he dug out his wallet and fished out a small rectangular piece of paper: a business card. He dropped it onto the table. “You’ll do it, or you’ll get a C&D from my family’s attorney. If you want a defamation suit on your hands, be my guest.”

Annabeth had to keep herself from gawking, her storm of emotions so mixed up that she wasn’t even entirely sure if she felt shock or admiration. She wasn’t even sure of whether his threat was genuine or not, but it seemed to have the effect that he’d been hoping for either way. 

“Mr. Jackson,” Chloe gaped, her eyes glued to the card on the table. Her sentence seemed to end there, a heavy silence hanging in the room as they all held their breath. Finally she looked up, her eyes glossy. “I apologize.”

“It’s not me that you need to be apologizing to.”

Slowly, Chloe turned her head toward Annabeth. “Forgive me. My questions were… inappropriate.”

Annabeth made no effort to so much as acknowledge the apology, tears burning in her eyes despite her best attempts to hold back her emotion. She kept her focus on the table, concentrating on keeping her breathing steady. 

“Come on, Beth,” Percy said, holding out a hand for her. “Let’s go.”

If she hadn’t been moments from losing it, she might’ve thought more of his gesture. As it were, she simply took his hand, her eyes trained to the floor as she let him lead her out into the hallway. The second the door closed behind them, her lip began to quiver.

“Not here,” he said quietly, wrapping an arm around her waist and steering her further up the hall, into the conference room next to the one they’d just exited. He pushed the door open and pulled her inside, not even bothering with the lights before he wrapped his arms over her shoulders.

Both of Annabeth’s hands fisted in the front of his shirt as she buried her face into his chest. His arms squeezed even tighter, holding her securely in place, guarded and safe. She’d thought only a moment ago that surely a breakdown was building, but his embrace had steadied her. Her heart still raced and her hands still trembled, but the flood had stopped rising. 

“Are you okay?” he asked after a full minute like that, standing in the dark room that was silent but for her shaky breaths. Percy loosened his grip on her just enough to lean back and look at her face. 

“Yes,” she nodded, sniffling. “I’m sorry—”

“Don’t,” he shook his head. “Don’t do that. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Annabeth frowned but didn’t argue, stepping slowly away from him. “I think I’m going to sit here for a minute and calm down,” she said, moving toward one of the chairs. “You don’t have to wait for me.”

He watched her for a few seconds before he took a deep breath, his jaw set in determination. After another moment, he turned and opened the door again. “I’ll be back. Don’t leave without me.” And then he was gone. 

She wiped at her eyes, her breaths mostly even now, though her anxiety was still roiling in her chest. It would pass, it always did, but the rising tide was difficult to swallow when she didn’t see it coming— and she certainly hadn’t seen that coming. 

Annabeth wasn’t a fool. She’d known that the interviewer would likely want to ask a few questions about what had happened, but she hadn’t expected to be point blank confronted with such direct questions about Luke. She’d spent years letting that scar tissue thicken, but Chloe had torn straight through it in just a few words. 

A few minutes passed, long enough that Annabeth had collected herself, when the door opened again. Percy poked his head through the gap. “You ready?”

Annabeth nodded. He held a hand out for her and she took it instinctively, letting him lead her back out into the corridor. As they passed the Dean’s office, she could just make out Brunner’s voice, a bit louder than usual. 

“...unacceptable, Ms. Roth. I trust that we can expect more professional behavior from your photographers?” he said, his words sharp and to the point. 

“Yes, sir,” Chloe’s soft voice replied. The rest of her apology faded into a mumble as they continued down the hall.

Annabeth looked at Percy who just shook his head and continued walking. “Tell you later.”

They walked in silence, hands clasped palm-to-palm between them as they made their way out to the parking garage. When they finally reached her car, he dropped her hand, his face so clouded with concern that he himself looked nearly as upset as she felt. 

“Are you good to drive? I can give you a ride,” he offered. 

“I’m fine, Percy. Thank you,” Annabeth shook her head. “You didn’t have to do that back there.”

“Yes, I did.”

She frowned. Annabeth wasn’t used to people standing up for her, didn’t know how to let it happen. “Are you going to tell me what that was in Brunner’s office?”

“I just thought he needed to know that his setup backfired,” Percy explained, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the car parked beside Annabeth’s. “I don’t want that coming down on us when it wasn’t our fault.” 

“But the photoshoot and all of that,” she raised an eyebrow, “it’s still on?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “They’re still planning on running the story, but Chloe promised that me, you, and Brunner would get to see it before it runs.” 

Annabeth nodded, chewing on the inside of her cheek. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Percy asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she sighed. “I do need to go, though. I have to get to practice.”

Percy nodded, straightening. He hesitated for a moment before he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her again. “Call me later, alright?”

“Okay,” she nodded, returning his embrace before pulling away and unlocking the car. 

“Hey, Annabeth?” he asked just as she was about to settle into the driver’s seat. She looked up, meeting his eyes. “That was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen anyone do.”

She gave him a soft smile. “Thanks, Percy.” He gave her a nod before he turned and walked back toward the elevator, disappearing into the rows of cars.

-

Practice was a blur. It was either the best practice of her life or the worst, depending on how one may choose to view it. Sure, she’d shown up and hit more aces than she had in months, but her mind was somewhere else entirely. Her anger and frustration were all funneled into her workout, doing extra reps like they were nothing. 

Her only regret was that she was so trapped in her own head that she was sure that she’d been cold to both Piper and Hedge, but she hadn’t had the words to explain why she was upset. What could she say, after all? There was no easy answer, and she wasn’t ready to burden either of them with the hard one. 

So instead, she kept it inside. If she could just make it home, she could fall apart in the privacy of her own bedroom, the way she had so many times before. What Annabeth saw when she pulled into her parking spot, however, made her realize that she should have known better than to think she’d be spending the evening alone. 

He was sitting there, arms folded over the handlebars of the motorcycle as he watched her approach. The strangest sense of déjà vu swept over her as she took the white helmet from his hands and pulled it on, straddling the seat without so much as a greeting. They rode in silence, but Annabeth deduced their destination easily. 

Twenty minutes later, they’d staked a claim on the cliff’s edge overlooking the Labyrinth, the sun just beginning to sink down below the horizon. Percy hadn’t said a single word, apparently content to merely keep her company for as long as she needed. They stayed that way for a while, watching tourists weave through the maze and letting the wind wrap them in its warm caress. 

She’d been so attuned to his presence that she seemed to almost feel him decide to speak, tilting her head toward him. He gave her a peculiar look that she couldn’t quite name— it wasn’t pity or sympathy, but something else altogether. He glanced down at the ground, at the space between them where her hand rested on the rock. Slowly, he reached out, placing his hand over hers. 

“I don’t—” he began, frowning before he made a second attempt. “I wish I knew what to say, Annabeth.”

“I’ve only ever told Connor what happened,” Annabeth said quietly. Her voice felt strained even to her own ears, but he gave her hand a gentle squeeze anyway.

“You don’t owe me anything,” Percy shook his head. “We can just sit here until you’re ready to go home.”

She met his eyes and saw nothing but compassion. She knew without even having to think about it that she could stay silent and he really, truly wouldn’t mind at all. Percy hadn’t brought her there to try and pry the truth from her grasp— he just hadn’t wanted her to be alone with it while the wounds he couldn’t understand were still fresh. He was so obviously concerned about her, even though he had absolutely no context for why she was so upset. 

Maybe that’s why she looked back out over the choppy water and swallowed as she steadied herself. Here was a person that so obviously wanted to give her an anchor in the storm, a lamp in the darkness, and Annabeth… Well, she decided that she’d been shutting people out for too long. After a moment, she turned her wrist, letting her palm rest flush against Percy’s as his fingers wrapped over the side of her hand.

“I want to tell you.”

Chapter Text

FOUR YEARS EARLIER

“Good practice today, Chase!”

Annabeth smiled, waving as Silena turned and made her way out of the locker room. “See you tomorrow.”

Silena shot her a bright smile before she slipped around the corner, followed quickly by the soft shhh of the hydraulic door falling closed behind her. It was quiet after that. Annabeth and Silena were nearly always the last to leave the gym, their after-school training sessions usually continuing well into early evening, but she’d always kind of liked the peacefulness of the empty locker rooms. 

She took a quick shower, relishing the way the nearly-scalding water eased the ache of her muscles as she flexed and stretched beneath the stream. Begrudgingly, Annabeth cut the water off, wrapping her towel around her torso before she started back out into the locker room. 

The lever at the top of the door hissed as it was pushed open. Annabeth glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see Silena who had probably forgotten something in her locker or accidentally walked out with one of the gym’s towels as she so often did. She was just about to reach into her duffel bag for her clothes when she realized the steps didn’t belong to Silena.

“Oh,” the male voice said. She turned immediately to find standing a few yards away, a bit of surprise on his face as he met her eyes. “I’m sorry; I didn’t realize anyone was still in here.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” Annabeth asked immediately, tightening her grip on the towel. She eyed him, not especially alarmed but a bit startled to see her coach standing in the middle of the women’s locker room.

“We got a complaint about one of the sinks,” Luke explained, gesturing toward the bathrooms. “I was just coming down to check it out— you know, see if we needed to get a plumber in here.”

“Oh,” she responded. Despite his last name being plastered on the sign outside, it was easy to forget that Luke’s family owned the facility— that he was as much a part of the operations and upkeep as he was the training. Still, knowing why he’d entered the changing room didn’t really make her feel any less uncomfortable about him being there.

“Ready for this weekend?” he asked, flashing her a smile. Despite their current situation, he seemed so relaxed that she actually found herself feeling slightly more at ease, as if his mood somehow informed her own reaction. “We’re going to clean house.”

“Um, yeah, I hope so,” she nodded, bringing a forced smile to her lips.

“Well,” Luke nodded, giving her a once over so quick she almost didn’t catch it, “I won’t keep you. Swing by the front on your way out, alright?”

Annabeth turned quickly back toward her locker. She gathered a handful of loose bobby pins and dropped them back into the small plastic container she used for storage, busying herself until she once again heard the familiar sound of the door settling into the frame. The moment the door was closed, she changed quickly, pulling on her clothes at record speed. She didn’t even care that her hair was still so wet that it was soaking through the shoulders of her t-shirt, focused only on gathering her belongings and getting out of the gym before anyone else came in to check on the sink.

When she walked back out to the lobby of the facility, it was almost completely silent. The usually upbeat music that played through the speakers in the ceiling had already been turned off, making the hum of the air conditioning seem loud in the otherwise quiet space. The front desk where a couple of college kids usually stood, checking members in and out, was unattended now. Directly behind the desk, a wall about eight feet wide with openings on either side concealed the back office— the place Luke, his parents, and the other trainers and office staff could be found when they weren’t out on the floor. She didn’t hear any movement coming from the other side of the wall, but the lights were still on. 

“I’m leaving!” she called toward the office as she signed herself out at the vacant front desk. Just as she dropped the pen into the cup next to the clipboard, a pair of blue eyes peered around the corner.

“You got a second?” Luke asked, a smirk on his lips. He’d always been a nice-looking guy, but the three-day stubble he was sporting definitely complimented his features, and she found herself admiring him for just a moment before his voice interrupted again. “I want to show you something.”

“Um, yeah, okay,” Annabeth stammered, adjusting her bag on her shoulder as she walked around the large desk and followed Luke into the clerical space behind the dividing wall. She’d never been in that part of the facility before, but it didn’t look especially different from what she’d imagined. The room was crowded, separated by flimsy cubicle dividers to form makeshift offices, and nearly every surface had some type of file organizer or overflowing in/out-box. 

He headed straight for a computer situated on the back wall at what must have been his desk, judging by the hoard of empty water bottles and the San Francisco Giants bobblehead collection lined up beneath the monitor. The screen displayed a video from their most recent match, paused just as Annabeth was setting up for a spike.

“Okay, watch this,” Luke said, leaning over and clicking the mouse. 

Annabeth watched, remembering the match vividly. She didn’t need to rewatch the game footage— it was seared into her mind. As the video began to move forward, Annabeth’s ankle rolled and she tumbled forward, face first into the sand. She felt her jaw clench in agitation, wondering if he’d actually called her in just to ridicule her for her clumsiness.  “I didn’t—”

“Wait,” he said, holding up a hand to silence her with his eyes still trained on the monitor. “Watch.”

She exhaled slowly, trying to keep her embarrassment in check as she watched Silena pull a red-faced, cursing Annabeth to her feet. Silena took her by the shoulders, whispering something that Annabeth vaguely recalled to be words of encouragement before they separated. 

“Do you need to take a time-out?” Luke called from the sideline, his voice just barely audible in the recording. Annabeth lifted her knee, rolling her ankle a few times. It was sore, she remembered, but she would live. She shook her head, planting her feet firmly in the sand again. 

Luke leaned forward again, pausing the video. He looked at her with a satisfied smirk, as if she were meant to read his mind. 

Annabeth shrugged. “What?”

“Do I need to play it again?” he laughed. He tilted his head. “You really don’t get it, do you?” 

She blinked, completely losing whatever trail he’d been hoping for her to follow. Finally, she shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Did you see that look on your face, Annie?” Luke said, resting his hand on her shoulder. “And not only that, you dusted yourself off, gritted your teeth, and got right back in the game. That’s the good stuff— that’s what makes a winner. You know what dad always says: fall down seven times—”

“Stand up eight,” she finished, the old adage practically ingrained into her psyche. “It really wasn’t that big of a deal, Coach. It wasn’t even a sprain.”

His hand squeezed her shoulder once, his eyes soft. “Don’t belittle yourself. It’s an accomplishment. You’re incredible,” Luke promised, his voice full and sincere. “I just want you to see that.”

Annabeth stared back in disbelief, the compliment nestling itself neatly into her chest where it rooted and bloomed immediately. It wasn’t that Luke was an especially stern coach, but he was not one for flowery words. A direct compliment from any of the Castellans was rare as a blizzard in Malibu, but Luke had always been particularly stingy with doling out praise.

“I—” she stammered, the weight of his hand feeling heavier in the silence between their exchange. “Thank you, Coach.”

“You can call me Luke, you know,” he smiled. “It’s just us.”

Annabeth gave him a small smile in return, taking a slow step back. “Well, I should probably go— my parents are saving dinner for me.”

“Yeah, of course,” Luke straightened, nodding in acknowledgement. “Have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She took another step backwards, the phantom feeling of his hand still resting on her skin as she turned and made her way out of the gym.

-

The next day, Annabeth found herself more excited than ever to make it to practice. She’d excitedly gushed about the compliment to Connor the entire ride from school to the gym, and he was as impressed as she’d been that Luke had given her such direct praise. 

“Not that you don’t deserve it,” he’d been quick to add, “just that it’s surprising to imagine anything other than criticism coming out of his mouth.” And Annabeth laughed, because he was right— it was sort of absurd. The idea that she’d earned accolades from such a notoriously critical person had given her confidence a boost, and she was riding that high for as far as it would carry her. 

When Connor pulled his mom’s van up to the curb in front of the gym, she leaned over the console, giving him a quick kiss before she hopped out of the passenger side, waving as he pulled away. She stepped through the double doors of the Castellans’ facility, a wall of A/C hitting her in the face and cooling her from the late May heat.

Luke was standing behind the front desk, looking out toward the parking lot. “Who’s that?” he asked as she picked up a pen and began to sign herself in.

“You know Connor,” Annabeth answered, scribbling down the current time. She looked up, surprised to see the hint of a scowl on Luke’s face. “My boyfriend? You’ve met him before; he’s been to all our local matches this season.”

“Ah,” he nodded unenthusiastically. “Guess I forgot.” Luke raised his eyebrows as he finally looked at her. “Well? Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to go get changed?”

She tried not to balk in response to the sudden harshness in his voice, nodding quickly as she turned toward the locker room. The heat in her cheeks refused to settle, the admonition weighing even more heavily on her after the elation of the flattery he’d bestowed upon her the previous evening. The only thought in her mind as she changed was wondering how she could impress him today, chasing that look of praise that she’d seen on his face the night before. 

But, like most things in life, that was easier said than done. She hadn’t expected him to go easier on her in light of their shared moment in the office, but she certainly hadn’t anticipated him being even harder on her. Every other word out of his mouth that afternoon seemed to be specifically engineered to wound her. His reprimands stacked on her shoulders and she felt the weight of every single one. 

Miraculously, Annabeth managed to wait until Silena had left for the night before she fell apart. She didn’t cry, had never been a crier, but the tears wouldn’t stop. All she could do was sit on the concrete ledge along the wall of lockers, hoping she could pull herself together. 

Luke was likely still in the office, and the last thing that she wanted to do was let him see how much he’d upset her. He’d probably think she was being narcissistic or that she’d thought his commendations would earn her an easy ride for a while, both of which were fundamentally untrue.

After a few more minutes, she’d finally composed herself enough that she thought she could sneak out without drawing any more attention to herself. Annabeth hurried out of the locker room, hoping that her stepmom was already waiting in the parking lot. Just as she was signing out, she heard her name.

“Annie?” Luke asked, his brow furrowed. “Are you— have you been crying?”

“No,” she lied, shaking her head. She knew it was pointless since her cheeks and eyes were likely still red, but she wasn’t about to admit that he’d hurt her feelings.

He frowned, stepping around the desk and coming to a stop in front of her. She looked down automatically, too ashamed to look him in the eye. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, bringing his hand out and using one finger to lift her chin gently. “I was a little too hard on you today.”

Annabeth didn’t reply. She stood there, rigid and expressionless as his finger burned on her skin. The softness in his voice was unnerving in contrast to the harsh words he’d been relentlessly hurling at her for the past three hours. 

“I think that maybe you were just a little distracted, don’t you?” Luke mused, letting his hand fall. His tone was still soft, but his eyes had hardened again. 

“What?” she asked, confused by his observation. “I wasn’t distracted.”

“You certainly played like you were,” he shook his head. “All over the place today. Sloppy hits, missing easy digs. You’re never going to make it to Rio like this, and you’re only going to have yourself to blame.”

Her mouth fell open in shock at the reproach. His words slammed into her with so much force that she actually took a step back, blinking in surprise. 

“You’re distracted, probably by this Connor guy, and you’re making mistakes. Now, you tell me, Annie,” he said, clicking his tongue in disappointment, “is that fair to Silena?”

“But last night you—”

“What?” Luke narrowed his eyes incredulously. “You get one little compliment so you start slacking? You think that because you somehow managed to break into the rankings you can start dicking around?”

“I didn’t say that,” Annabeth stammered. “I just thought—”

“Well, you thought wrong.” His eyes were cold but otherwise unreadable. Just as she opened her mouth to respond, she heard a car horn coming from the other side of the doors, glancing over to see her stepmother’s sedan idling by the curb. Luke turned to walk back into the office. “Tell Helen I said hi.”

-

Things were tense for a while after that. Weeks went by while she tried vehemently to adjust her sails to his ever changing winds. It was no easy feat, and she failed more often than not, but when she was successful, his praise made the struggle worth it.

Annabeth hadn’t known what to expect from one day to the next as Luke continued to shift wildly from high praise to rigid criticism. She tried to tell herself that he was just trying to make her better. They still had one tournament left before the rankings were finalized, and if they did well, they might just retain their rank in the top fifteen and lock in their spot at the Olympics. He was just being hard on her so that she would understand the pressures she’d have to face once they got to Rio. 

But then there were the good days. Days when she practically floated home in a cloud of pride and excitement, thrilled by his praises and attention. Those stuck out more strongly, and she found herself dredging through the turmoil all the more willingly, just hoping for the bright spots that shone through so rarely. She’d grown to appreciate his company and the gentle way he seemed to dote on her in private. It was a source of pride for her, knowing that she was his favorite even if he couldn’t make it publicly obvious.

Some days, she let it go to her head. It made her sloppy, even though she tried to avoid it, and Luke definitely noticed. He was somehow even harder to read on those days— almost as if he understood that his praise was the thing that hindered her performance while also being the source of her motivation. Every word that left his lips was engineered specifically to hit her at her core, and by the end of practice, she knew that her jaw would ache from the way she’d been clenching it all afternoon. 

One evening, after she’d hastily rinsed as much of the sand from her thick hair as possible and re-dressed, Annabeth stomped back out into the lobby of the athletic center. Practice had truly sucked that day, even more than usual— she’d been determined to continue training, despite recovering from a minor sprain, and she wanted nothing more than to go home. She scribbled her name onto the sign-out log before pulling out her phone to call and let Connor know practice was over early so that he could come pick her up.

“How’s your ankle?” 

Annabeth looked up from her phone, away from Connor’s contact information and the spot on the screen where her thumb hovered just above the CALL icon. She locked it automatically, shoving it into the side pocket of her duffel bag. “It’s okay,” she answered. “A little sore but I think it’ll be fine by the time we leave for Ft. Lauderdale.”

“You’re still favoring it when you walk,” Luke noted, looking down as she stepped away from the check-in counter. “Are you sure it’s not bothering you?”

Annabeth balanced on her good leg, lifting her knee and rolling her ankle to demonstrate that it was still functional. There was a dull pain that shot up the side of her leg as she flexed the muscles, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t play through. She tried to conceal the discomfort but her face betrayed her.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he frowned. Luke nodded toward the hallway, reaching into his pocket for his keys as he turned. “Come with me.”

She sighed but didn’t argue as she followed him down the short corridor to the PT room. She’d spent a lot of time inside those walls over the years. Since she’d begun training at the Castellans’ gym, she’d met with their on-staff physical therapist at least once a week to keep her shoulders, knees, and ankles as strong and healthy as possible. It wasn’t at all uncommon for Luke to assist with the process and he’d helped both Annabeth and Silena work through multiple strains, sprains, and other injuries more times than she could count.

Each step caused the dull pain to become more and more noticeable and by the time she hopped up onto the padded table, she’d admitted to herself that maybe her ankle did need a little attention, especially after the demanding practice session she’d just put herself through. Luke walked straight to the cabinet on the far side of the room and returned a minute later with a bandage, a couple of ibuprofen, and a tube of Absorbine. Annabeth kicked out of her slides, pulling her legs up as she slid further onto the table. 

“You know the drill,” Luke said as he dropped the pills into her hand and twisted the top off of the Absorbine. “Gonna feel a little cold at first.”

“I know,” she nodded, grimacing slightly at the icy sensation as the gel came into contact with her skin. Annabeth popped the ibuprofen into her mouth and swallowed them dry. 

Luke stepped to the end of the table where her feet were hanging over the edge and began to gently massage the medicine into her skin, rolling her ankle carefully as he did. “That alright?” he asked, glancing up at her face. “Feels a little stiff.”

“It is,” she agreed, wincing slightly. Her discomfort was apparently enough to make him stop rotating the joint. “It’s okay, coach,” Annabeth assured him. “Seriously— I’ll ice it when I get home tonight and I’ll take it easy this weekend.”

“I’m sure you will,” he chuckled. Luke looked back toward her ankle before he slid a hand beneath the back of her leg and lifted until her knee bent at a forty-five degree angle, her foot flat on the tabletop. “I’m going to work a little more gel into your calf. It’s a bit tight, probably because you’ve been limping.”

Annabeth nodded as he rubbed the gel stick down the length of her calf slowly before setting it aside. The stinging in her ankle had already begun to fade into a cool sensation that was providing much needed relief to her aching joint, and she knew that the present discomfort would be worth it. Her calf began to burn with the medicine as Luke moved to the side of the table and began to work carefully down her calf with strong, slow movements.

“Tell me if it’s too much, alright?” he said quietly, not looking up as he continued to drag his hands down the stiff muscles in her leg and firm motions. 

It was a painful sort of relief, like the feeling of discomfort she felt just before managing to finally crack her back. She focused on her breathing, letting her eyes slip closed as she tried to ignore the unpleasant ache that accompanied the massage. There was a beat of hesitation that she probably wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t been so aware of her body, but for just a moment, his hands stilled. 

Her eyes opened questioningly just as Luke rested a hand on her thigh, just above her knee. The touch felt foreign and the muscles in her leg tensed in response. “I just want to make sure you’re ready for the finals,” Luke said, his voice sounding different from its usual proud but casual tone. 

Something about this felt wrong, but she couldn’t find her voice to object. She wasn’t sure what she’d object to anyway. Nothing about what Luke was doing was really out of the ordinary— well, except for the expression on his face, and the way his voice had morphed into something unfamiliar, and the fact that he’d never brought her back to the PT room this late in the evening, and certainly not alone. But it was normal, probably, and she was just being paranoid. 

His hand had begun to slowly slide toward the back of her thigh, one centimeter at a time, when suddenly a loud ringing cut through the room and Luke snatched his hand away as if he’d been burned. 

Annabeth snapped back to reality, sliding off the table quickly. “That’s probably Connor,” she explained, her face warm and flushed as she reached into the side pocket of her bag and dug around for her still-ringing cell phone. “He’s picking me up.”

“Right,” Luke said hoarsely, nodding. He suddenly seemed very interested in twisting the cap back onto the Absorbine tube. “Here,” he called as she pulled the strap of her bag onto her shoulder and turned toward the door. She looked back just in time to catch the roll of bandages that he’d tossed in her direction. “Ice that ankle. Keep it wrapped and elevated this weekend. I’ll see you Monday.”

Annabeth managed a polite smile as she shoved the bandages into her bag and hurried out into the hall. “Hey, I’m walking out now,” she said, bringing the phone to her ear. Connor’s reply only vaguely registered above the sound of her pounding heart before he hung up and she continued out the front doors of the gym and straight to the minivan that was idling by the curb. 

“What’s that godawful smell?” Connor asked, turning his nose up as soon as she’d settled into the passenger seat. “Did you use that nasty ointment again?”

Annabeth couldn’t answer as she stared at the dashboard, her skin burning for an entirely new reason. Her stomach felt like it was twisting itself into knots over and over again, and she still wasn’t entirely sure why she felt so strange. The strong menthol smell of the Absorbine was almost suffocating in the cab of the van— that’s probably why she was so nauseous. 

He looked over, noticing her face for the first time, and leaned over the console to cup her chin. “Hey,” Connor said softly, his brow knitting in concern. “Are you okay?”

She swallowed before she met his eyes, managing to nod. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered. “It was just a really weird and exhausting practice.” Connor’s hand slipped away slowly and her eyes followed to movement as it came to rest against her still-searing thigh. “And yeah,” Annabeth said quickly, looking up and trying to sound as normal as possible, “sorry about the smell. I know you hate it.”

Connor gave her leg a light squeeze before he looked forward and eased off of the brake. “No worries, Chase. Just glad you’re taking that sprain a little more seriously. If you’d just listened to me two days ago—”

“I know, I know,” Annabeth sighed. “You were right.”

Whipping his head to the side and dramatically pressing the brake again, Connor let his jaw fall slack. “Now I know something is wrong with you.” He leaned across the console again, stealing a quick kiss as a grin spread across his face. “But if it means that you’re finally admitting that sometimes I’m right, it might just be alright.”

Forcing herself to relax, Annabeth took his hand. “You’re right sometimes,” she allowed. “Just… very rarely.”

“I’ll take it.”

They pulled away from the curb and by the time they’d reached his driveway, Annabeth had mostly rationalized the interaction back at the gym. The more she thought about it, the less strange it seemed. It had only felt so strange because she’d been acting so weird about it and, really, it was her own fault— if she’d just listened to Luke’s instructions to sit the practice out, none of it would have been necessary in the first place. 

When they’d parked and gotten out of the van, Connor walked her across the street to her door, just as he always did. Instead of his usual quick goodbye, however, his eyes seemed more serious. They stood beneath the dim light on the front porch of her dad’s house as he carefully tucked a strand of damp blonde hair behind her ear. “You know you can talk to me, right?” he asked. “If there’s something that’s bothering you, I can help.”

Connor was so often not serious that she sometimes forgot just how perceptive he was. “I know,” she breathed, stepping forward to wrap her arms around his torso in a tight, comforting embrace. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” he said as he brought her into his arms, turning his head to press a quick kiss to her cheek. “I’ll call you in the morning and see if you’re still feeling up to going to the beach, alright?”

Annabeth nodded as she untangled herself from his arms. “Sounds good.” She leaned in, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “Goodnight, Connor.”

“Night, Chase,” he said, a frown that he couldn’t quite hide still quirked on his lips. “Call me if you need anything.”

“I will,” she assured him before she slipped inside, watching through the front window as Connor’s shoulders slumped and pushed his hands into his pockets before walking back across the street. The house was quiet, which she was grateful for. Annabeth didn’t think she could handle another passive aggressive interaction with her dad at the moment. It was still early, but she knew that the sooner she fell asleep, the sooner this absurd day would be over. She made her way upstairs, quickly wrapping the bandage around her ankle before she climbed into bed and letting the heavy scent of menthol lull her to sleep.

The nervous feeling in her stomach that night faded from memory more quickly than she would’ve thought possible. By the time she’d returned to practice on Monday, she could hardly even recall why she’d felt so weird about the situation in the first place. Luke seemed completely normal, and her ankle did feel much better, after all. Practice passed normally and as she walked out to her stepmother’s sedan that evening, she couldn’t help but feel ridiculous for letting something so stupid get into her head.

A week before their last tournament, Annabeth found herself sitting in the back office with Luke once again. It had become something of a habit on the days that he seemed to be in a better mood, both of them laughing as they talked about her classes or other clients that he worked with on a more casual basis. She looked forward to those moments, the fun and laid-back side of him that she’d gotten to know becoming more familiar to her in the silence of the otherwise empty gym.

That night, they were looking over footage from one of their first tournaments of the year, a match that both Annabeth and Luke agreed was probably her worst performance of the entire season. She was just about to point out a misstep when he paused the footage, swallowing before he looked at her. 

“God, do you see that?” he asked quietly, his shoulder brushing against hers as they both leaned toward the computer screen.

“Yeah,” she laughed, “I’m about to overestimate and hit the ball right into the net like an idiot.”

“No,” Luke shook his head. “Watch your jump.” He pressed play again, letting the video play at half-speed as they watched Annabeth do exactly as she’d recalled and a point was added to the other team’s score.

“What?” Annabeth asked finally, looking back at Luke who seemed to be carefully studying her expression. 

His gaze continued to bore into her as if he were making his mind up about something before he finally seemed to come to a decision. A long second passed before his hand rested lightly on her thigh, her eyes looking down at the touch. Suddenly, her shorts felt a little too short, a little too snug. She looked back up at his face, bewildered. 

“You,” he said quietly, his hand sliding further up her thigh and sending goosebumps all across her skin. “You’re so strong, Annie. Your legs and your arms… you don’t have any idea how attractive that is.”

Annabeth felt an unfamiliar heat flush over her, her throat constricting uncomfortably. His hand flexed, giving her leg a quick squeeze as he hummed thoughtfully, a smirk coming to his lips. Every nerve in her told her to move away but she couldn’t, frozen beneath his icy stare, her mind somehow both racing and blank all at once. 

“I can’t tell you what a privilege it is for me to get to work with you,” he said, swiveling in his chair to face her fully with his hand still sliding over the smooth, warm skin of her upper thigh. “Do you know what that means? To know how hard you work for me?”

Her heart pounded hard against her chest, screaming for her to do something but her muscles wouldn’t obey. As if her lack of response were some form of encouragement, Luke moved forward suddenly, pulling her face into his and letting his lips meet hers. Her hands finally responded to her will, pushing against his chest firmly as she scrambled out of the chair. Luke was already on his feet when she looked back, his expression shifting before her eyes. 

“Annabeth, come on,” he said calmly, raising his hands. “I thought we understood each other. I thought you liked spending time with me.”

Her mouth was so dry that she didn’t think she could speak, but she tried. “I never wanted you to—”

“To what?” Luke asked, his voice low. “To mentor you? To get you to the Olympics?”

How could he be misinterpreting her? How could he possibly have deluded himself into thinking that being a good coach had earned him the right to do as he pleased? She gaped in response, speechless.

“Come on, Annie,” he urged. “Come sit down and let’s talk about this.” When she didn’t make an effort to move back toward the chair she’d been sitting in just moments ago, he took a step toward her. 

“Stay away from me,” she demanded, her voice sounding unconvincing even to her own ears. “If you come any closer, I’ll scream.”

“Scream?” Luke repeated, raising his eyebrows at her comment even though he didn’t take another step. His voice was loud when he next spoke. “There’s no one to hear you, Annabeth.”

The truth of his statement flashed through her with a jolt of panic as she took another step back. She didn’t know if he might actually hurt her, but the look in his eyes made her uneasy to a point that she didn’t trust him enough to want to stick around and find out.

When he spoke again, his voice was back to its normal volume. “See? It’s just us, remember?”

“Luke—”

“Don’t be like this,” he pleaded, his eyes turning softer even as she watched. Baby blue and crystal clear, they seared into her like a hot knife through butter. “It was just a misunderstanding.”

“You… you kissed me,” Annabeth shook her head. 

“Are you worried about how it looks? Annie, come on. I bet you can keep a secret, right? Besides, you’re only a couple of years younger than me. You’ll be eighteen this summer and you’ve always been so,” his eyes flitted over her again, “mature for your age.”

She knew that it wouldn’t make a difference to remind him that she was more than a couple of years younger— that she was still in high school and he’d already graduated college. Even if he recognized it, she doubted he cared.

“I don’t— I’m not interested in that at all,” she stammered, feeling nausea rising in her throat.

Faced with her point-blank rejection, Luke’s demeanor shifted almost immediately. He took a step toward her so quickly she didn’t even have a chance to back away, his hand closing on her wrist as she winced at the pain, tears forming in her eyes. 

“You’re not going to tell anyone about this though, are you,” Luke said, not leaving any room for rebuttal despite the question he’d posed. His tone was smooth and gentle even as he gripped her wrist tightly, preventing her from moving away again. “‘Cause that would make a really big mess for all of us. And I really don’t think that you want people calling you a liar.”

“I’m not lying,” she whimpered, fear seizing her at last. The lump in her throat seemed to have swollen to the size of a softball. Her face was contorting, panic and anger and disbelief all melting into one indistinguishable maelstrom in her chest. “There are cameras.”

He chuckled, a long, mirthful exhale slipping from his lips as his smirk returned. “There aren’t any cameras back here, Annie. Come on— you don’t think I’m stupid do you?”

She wanted to glance around and confirm the claim for herself but she didn’t dare take her eyes off of him. Her mind raced, trying desperately to think of something, anything that she could use against him. The pit in her stomach opened up even wider as she realized that she always signed out before she came into the office. If anyone checked the records, it would look like she’d left at a reasonable time— there were hours spent in this room that not one other soul knew of.

“You listen to me, sweet girl,” he all but hissed. Every ounce of warmth that she’d grown to see in him had vanished, replaced by venom and rage. “You’re gonna walk out of here and we’re going to forget this happened. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your head down and maybe, just maybe, you’ll manage to stay in those rankings.”

She glared at him, knowing that her abject anger was probably lost behind tear-rimmed eyes. 

“You are nothing without me behind you,” Luke said, releasing her wrist like he was discarding trash. “Don’t you forget that. You want a medal? You’ll keep that pretty mouth shut.”

Annabeth staggered backward, the tears falling from her eyes before she’d even made it past the front desk. She grabbed her duffel bag from the floor, practically running out of the gym without sparing a single glance behind her.

“And then I walked home,” she sniffed, staring out over the Bay. The sun had set, the sky washed in deep pink and orange hues. It might’ve been beautiful if they’d been there under different circumstances. “I never went back to the Castellans’ gym.”

Percy’s hand was still warm in hers as they sat. It didn’t take much observation to deduce that he was troubled, disgusted by everything she’d just shared. 

“You gave up the sport you loved with no warning, right when you were about to go to the Olympics,” he said, using his voice for the first time since before she’d begun telling the nightmarish story, “and no one thought that there was anything off about that?”

“Connor did,” Annabeth answered. “I didn’t want to tell him. We were dating at that point and I think I was a little worried he’d be upset with me about what happened. But he didn’t let it go; he knew I would never just quit.”

“But you told him eventually,” he mused, and she could hear him trying to piece the fallout together in his head. 

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Maybe a month or so after. He wanted me to say something but so much time had passed at that point and the whole mess about me and Silena dropping out had finally started to die down— I just wanted to forget. I guess I also sort of believed Luke at the time, too; I didn’t think anyone would believe me even if I did try to report him to someone. And then, I don’t know, I just didn’t think I’d ever have to see him again, so all I really wanted was to just… move on.”

“What made you come back?”

Annabeth managed to smile softly at the thought. “Connor. He never let me feel sorry for myself,” she said. “I mean, we broke up not too long after everything happened but, you know, we were still friends obviously. And Connor knew how much I missed it. He actually sent an email with some of my old game footage to Piper and Hedge— that’s why she reached out to me about partnering up.”

Percy nodded. His voice was thick when he spoke again. “Did you ever tell your parents?”

“I tried to tell my dad, but— listen, you need to understand my family, Percy,” she shook her head, deciding it was probably better to explain things before they got much further into the conversation. “My stepmother and Luke’s mom are really good friends. They went to high school together, they were college roommates, the whole nine. That’s the only reason my dad let me move to private training in the first place. Luke was fresh out of college when I first started; he didn’t have a single student and he worked for cheap, so my parents did him a favor and hired him to work with me. But all of that just meant that when I tried to tell my dad what happened, he just… shut me down.”

Percy exhaled slowly, sitting up a little straighter. She hated knowing that he was bothered by this, knowing that he tried so hard to avoid any situations that might anger him and how this was a completely lost cause. It was over — had been over for a long time. Being angry now didn’t help anyone, least of all him.

“I’d been training there for years before anything started to get weird. Nevermind that he’s known Luke since he was just a kid— my dad didn’t believe that he’d do something like that. That, and I think he thought I was just… done,” Annabeth continued, trying not to let Percy’s demeanor bother her too much, though she still felt guilty that it was because of her that he was so upset. “Like, he thought I wanted to quit and was making up some bogus story so that he wouldn’t be mad about me leaving the gym.”

“Seriously? He really thought you’d lie about something like that?” he asked in disbelief. 

“Well, then I quit anyway,” she laughed mirthlessly, “so he got to feel real smug about himself for a while. That’s why he doesn’t help me with money anymore— he felt like walking away from volleyball when Silena and I were so close to going to the Olympics was spitting in his face for the money he’d put into my training. And, I don’t know, maybe he was right.”

“You know that’s not true, Beth,” Percy said softly. “You were put into an impossible situation by people that you trusted. You did what you had to do.” 

Annabeth didn’t say anything to that— she didn’t know what to say.

“He was an adult and you were a child,” he shook his head, “and you can’t blame yourself for being brave enough to walk away.”

She wiped her cheek on the sleeve of her t-shirt. “I guess.”

Percy tilted his head, eying her curiously. He seemed to be trying to figure her out, studying her reaction and demeanor. “You’re allowed to be angry about this, you know,” he said. “I would be.”

“I just…” Annabeth shrugged, searching for the words. “It could’ve been so much worse. I mean, he didn’t actually do anything to me— not really, anyway. I was always scared that I’d made a big deal out of something that didn’t really need to be a big deal. I still am, I guess.”

“He— Annabeth, no,” Percy shook his head, his brow furrowing. “He took advantage of you. He earned your trust just so he could manipulate you, then he threatened you and ran you out of a sport you loved.” He was quiet for a moment, the gears working steadily in his mind. “God, and then everything with the news.”

Annabeth took a deep breath. The media, even then, had shown her no mercy. To them, she was a spoiled child that walked away at the peak of the season, caving under the demanding pressure of professional sporting. They’d portrayed her as some kind of villain — a conniving, selfish child that had stolen a shot at an Olympic medal away from Silena Beauregard without a second thought — and she’d had no choice but to let them. 

“If anyone deserves to be hurt and angry, it’s you,” he said gently, letting go of her hand to rub her back slowly. “No one was looking out for you and that’s…”

She turned her head to look at him, surprised to see such genuine pain in his face. Not only was he telling her that she was allowed to be hurt or angry, he was hurting for her, he was angry for her. Before she could lose her nerve, she leaned toward him, letting his arm drape over her shoulders and hold her into his side. 

“We’ve got to stop doing this,” she murmured after a moment, hoping against hope that her attempt at humor might relieve some of the tension that was practically radiating off of Percy, even now as he held her gently. “The Labyrinth is going to know all of our secrets.”

She felt his arm tighten as he pulled her closer, wordlessly. The logical part of her brain told her he was just trying to comfort her and not to read too much into his actions, but the emotional part — the little voice that told her to lean in and soak up whatever attention he was willing to show her — was louder. 

Annabeth relaxed into Percy’s side, resting her head on his shoulder. The breeze was cool and the waves were growing choppier as the last bit of light disappeared beneath the horizon. They couldn’t stay there forever. Their perfect, safe bubble would pop and they would walk back to the bike. He’d take her home and they’d go on with their lives, the moments that they’d stolen as they sat on the edge of that cliff lost to the wind. Telling him the truth would not shift the rotation of the earth or alter the trajectory of her life. Letting him hold her in a way that was as comforting to him as it was to her wouldn’t solve anything.

But for that moment, it was enough.

Chapter Text

7:20 AM - PERCY J:
Good morning

7:21 AM - ANNABETH:
Good morning

7:21 AM - PERCY J:
How are you feeling

7:21 AM - ANNABETH:
I’ve been better but I’ll live

7:22 AM - ANNABETH:
Wishing I could skip practice
without Hedge skinning me
alive

7:22 AM - PERCY J:
Yeah I wish you could get out
of it too

7:24 AM - ANNABETH:
Good luck today!

7:31 AM - PERCY J:
Thanks :)

7:31 AM - PERCY J:
What are you doing later

7:31 AM - ANNABETH:
I don’t have any plans

7:32 AM - PERCY J:
Mom wants you to come to
dinner with us?

7:35 AM - ANNABETH:
Are you okay with that?

7:35 AM - PERCY J:
Sure, why wouldn’t I be?

7:35 AM - ANNABETH:
Idk, just checking. If you’re fine
with it, I guess I’ll see you later

7:36 AM - PERCY J:
I’ll send you details after the meet

7:36 AM - ANNABETH:
Wish I could be there

7:37 AM - PERCY J:
You can congratulate me later 

7:37 AM - ANNABETH:
Count on it, water boy. See
you tonight

8:12 AM - CONNOR:
Helllooooo, Earth to Chase?

8:12 AM - CONNOR:
Are you alive

8:12 AM - ANNABETH:
What if I said no?

8:12 AM - CONNOR:
That’d suck

8:13 AM - ANNABETH:
What’s up

8:13 AM - CONNOR:
Just checking on you. You never
called me back yesterday.
How’d the interview go?

8:13 AM - ANNABETH:
It’s kind of a long story, can
I call after practice?

8:14 AM - CONNOR:
Dinner tonight?

8:14 AM - ANNABETH:
Can’t, I’m going to dinner with
Percy and his mom

8:15 AM - CONNOR:
Forreal?

8:15 AM - ANNABETH:
She’s nice

8:15 AM - CONNOR:
Hmm. interesting…

8:16 AM - ANNABETH:
Don’t make this weird

8:16 AM - ANNABETH:
And don’t make me regret
telling you

8:16 AM - CONNOR:
Whateverrrr

8:17 AM - CONNOR:
Well, call me later anyway

8:17 AM - ANNABETH:
Will do 👍

- 

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 85

It was warmer than usual that evening with the summer heat beginning to creep back into the area after a reasonably long spring. It had been, all things considered, a relatively normal Saturday. Annabeth enjoyed the warm breeze that blew through the cab of the Corolla as she made her way toward the Marina District, the radio blasting music to drown out any of the nagging thoughts she hadn’t been able to silence.

Admittedly, she’d surprised herself by telling Percy the truth about Luke. It was a secret that she kept so closely guarded that it was almost unimaginable to even think about sharing it with another person, but it had been alarmingly easy once she’d decided that she wanted him to know. However, once the words were out, she realized exactly why it was that she’d been so nervous for so long.

Telling someone her story was exposing a vulnerability that she had no way of covering. She was putting all of her cards on the table, giving power to another person and handing them a key to be able to hurt her if they ever decided that they wanted to. The only other person that she’d believed worthy of that gesture of trust had been Connor— her oldest friend and closest confidante. Opening up to Percy after knowing him for only a few months was nothing short of miraculous. 

His reaction, immediate and visceral, had proven to her that she’d made the right choice in telling him. Her fear, of course, had always been that someone might learn the truth and look at her differently. That they might hear her story and see a stupid, naïve girl who had gotten herself into trouble and run away when things got too serious. She worried that no one would see the complexities of her decisions or the weight that she’d carried silently for so long.

But Percy saw it. Percy spotted the truth immediately, clung to it and held it up for her to see as he reminded her that she was not to blame for what had happened between herself and Luke all those years ago. He’d been there as a shoulder to cry on (figuratively and literally) while he quietly reminded her that all those nights spent in the back office of the Castellan Training Center, no matter what had been said or felt, were not justification for what Luke had done. 

More than that, he’d made her realize, maybe for the first time, that she was allowed to be angry and hurt— even though what happened wasn’t ‘as bad’ as it might have been if she hadn’t stopped it. He’d made her see that she’d probably protected herself by running when she had; that Luke wouldn’t have stopped until he’d taken what he wanted.

And when he’d dropped her off later, walking her all the way to her door for the first time, he’d been reluctant to leave. He’d held her a little longer than she thought was necessary, asking again and again if she really was okay to be alone. What she remembered most was how he’d turned his head before he released her, pressing his lips to her temple just like he’d done that night in San Jose — only, this time, it sent a swarm of butterflies flooding through her, her heart skipping a beat at the gentle touch. 

It would not be inaccurate to say that she was excited about seeing him that night, but she was still nervous as well. The raw, open wounds from the day before were carefully bandaged and treated now, but she worried that he wouldn’t see it that way. Annabeth wondered if he would be able to look at her without pity in his eyes and treat her the same as he always had. 

Connor had been, in a word, shocked. He couldn’t believe that Annabeth had opened up to Percy about her past, even after she’d told him about the nightmare of an interview that they’d been through on Friday morning. She’d recounted every horrible detail to him on her drive home from practice that morning— though, she carefully navigated around just how protective Percy had become, and how she’d been unable to stop thinking about the way he’d held her in that dark conference room, his own heart racing with anger for her.

It was all that she could think about the entire day. 

He’d sent her details after his meet and instructed her to meet at his apartment at five-thirty. The drive felt comfortably familiar, even though she’d really only traveled the route one other time, and she walked herself to his door with a bubble of anticipation stuck in her throat. She knocked once before testing the handle, finding it unlocked. 

“Hello?” Annabeth called, setting her keys and purse on the kitchen island before she continued into the living area. 

“Hey,” Percy said, stepping out into the hall, “back here. You can come sit if you want.” His hair was damp, fingers moving up the front of his shirt as he fastened the buttons into place. Only the bottom few buttons had been secured, the top half of the shirt hanging open and revealing a three-inch span of deeply tanned skin she had to fight to keep from staring at. He turned after another second and disappeared back into the bedroom.

Finally, she forced her feet forward, despite the anxious excitement in her chest, and walked up the hallway. The room wasn’t anything like she’d imagined it might be. It was not as industrial as the living room, though the tall ceilings carried over into the space. The walls were painted a cool, steely shade of blue and were washed in light from another pair of windows that faced the Bay. All of the furniture was dark grey— the long dresser that stood beneath a wall-mounted mirror, the bookshelf on the wall behind her, even the headboard of the bed that was positioned between the two windows. 

She glanced toward the other side of the room to see a messy desk with a laptop and more than one stack of textbooks with spines that read things like ‘Anatomy and Physiology’ and ‘Sport Psychology’ and a dozen other words that seemed sort of impressive. The bathroom door was open and she could see Percy’s reflection in the mirror, working some product or other through his hair carefully. 

Annabeth had only taken one step through the doorway when Mrs. O’Leary lifted her head, tail wagging and beating a steady thump-thump-thump against the mattress. The dog had been lying so still before then that she’d been almost perfectly camouflaged by the grey comforter and pillows, but her dark brown eyes were clued in on Annabeth now. 

“She missed you,” Percy said as he looked at the reflection of Annabeth in the mirror as he continued to tame his hair into a reasonable state. “You look nice.”

“Thanks,” she answered quietly, crossing her arms awkwardly over the simple black dress she’d settled on for the evening. It wasn’t anything especially fancy, but it was clean and unwrinkled and it fit her well enough. She’d initially put the garment in the rejection pile, concerned that the sleeveless top might be just a bit too low-cut for dinner with her fake-boyfriend’s mom, but ultimately she decided that it was still the best option in her closet. “I wasn’t totally sure what to wear.”

Percy’s lips curled into a smile as he rinsed his hands and dried them on a hand towel. “Well, in that case,” he laughed as he stepped back through the doorway, “you get a bonus point for not knowing. It’ll be perfect for where we’re going.”

“Well,” Annabeth replied, rocking on the balls of her feet, “where are we going?”

“Just this place down near the Wharf. It’s kind of a tradition for us,” Percy answered. “My mom and I have gone there after every local swim meet since I was in high school.”

“And,” she hesitated, sitting on the edge of the mattress, “you want me there?” Mrs. O’Leary belly-crawled over to Annabeth’s side, her cold, wet nose nudging its way under her hand.

Percy seemed to consider that as he walked to the closet and pulled out a pair of shoes, stopping by the dresser to retrieve socks before he sat down beside her on the bed. “Do you not want to go?” he questioned, looking over at her. 

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” she answered, choosing to keep her eyes focused on Mrs. O’Leary and the way she was currently tilting her chin up in response to Annabeth’s scratching, “but if this is like a family thing, I don’t want it to be weird.”

“Well, as far as my mom knows, this is serious, right?” Percy asked, pulling on his socks. He said it so casually that Annabeth didn’t realize he actually seemed to expect an answer until the silence became obvious. 

“Yeah,” Annabeth nodded, “I guess so.”

“Then you should be there,” he shrugged. “But if you don’t want to go, that’s fine. I can get you out of it.”

“No,” she answered, maybe a bit too quickly. She looked back down at the dog lying between them, trying to play it cool. “I mean, I think it would be nice to get to know your mom a little.”

Percy nodded, still bent forward to tie his shoes. “Cool,” he said nonchalantly. “She’s been giving me shit for not telling her about you ever since the other night. Frank hasn’t really helped with that, though— he’s definitely been egging it on.”

“Frank seems to really get along with your mom,” Annabeth wondered aloud. “It’s almost like she treats him like her own kid.”

“That’s just how she is,” he smiled. “Frank lived with his grandma growing up, but she died a couple of years ago and my mom kind of adopted him into our family after that. She always wanted to be this safe place for kids, especially kids that maybe didn’t have anyone that was really looking out for them, but that was pretty hard with Gabe around. When we moved out here, she was finally able to become that person.”

She looked up finally, regarding the soft, warm expression on his face as he talked about his mother. “You really admire her.”

“She’s the best person I’ve ever met,” Percy affirmed as he sat up. “She deserves a hell of a lot more than the hand she was dealt, but she’s always made the best of it. I think there’s something to be said for that.”

“Plus,” Annabeth smiled, leaning over Mrs. O’Leary (who huffed in response) to nudge him with her shoulder, “she puts up with you and your bonehead friends— she probably deserves her own gold medal for patience or something.”

Percy rose to his feet, holding out a hand for Annabeth that she took without a second thought. “May I remind you that you also put up with me and my bonehead friends,” he smirked. “That’s commendable in and of itself, even before factoring Connor into the equation.”

“You’re right,” she grinned, letting her hand slip out of his once she was on her feet. “I also deserve a medal for my patience and fortitude.” 

“You do,” he nodded, gesturing in the direction of the living room. He reached down to give Mrs. O’Leary a parting head-pat before they both started toward the door. As they walked back out toward the living room, Percy cleared his throat. “What’s tomorrow afternoon look like for you?”

“Uh, wide open, I guess,” she shrugged, trying (and probably failing) to keep a neutral expression. “I have a paper I need to finish but it’s mostly done. I wasn’t really planning to work on it much anyway. Why?”

“I have tickets for the Giants game,” he mused as he walked into the kitchen. “Frank was gonna go with me, but I think it would be good to help get your mind off of everything.”

“Oh,” Annabeth shook her head, “no, I can’t take Frank’s ticket.”

“It’s fine, really,” Percy laughed, pulling a glass out of the cabinet and walking toward the fridge. He placed it beneath the water dispenser, holding the button on the front of the refrigerator until the glass was half-filled. “He doesn’t even like baseball; he was only going as my pity-date.”

“And I’m not a pity-date?” She raised her eyebrows as Percy stepped toward her. “You did just say that you only want me to go because you’re trying to cheer me up.”

He came to a stop in front of her, draining the glass of water before he studied her for a moment. “It’s not a pity-date. I want you to come with me.”

Annabeth met his gaze, staring right back until those sea-green eyes seemed to be the only thing in her line of sight. Finally, she sighed, feigning a dramatic defeat even as the smile returned to her lips. “What time?”

“Pick you up at one-thirty.”

“Alright,” she nodded. “It’s a date.”

Sally arrived shortly after. The restaurant was only a few blocks away and the evening was so pleasant that they decided to walk. They’d only made it about thirty yards away from the door when Percy slipped his hand into hers, interlacing their fingers like it was the most natural thing in the world. It wasn’t the first time he’d held her hand, and she knew that it was probably more for Sally than anything, but she felt the fire coursing up her arm regardless.

Dinner was easy and fun, two words that Annabeth was absolutely not used to assigning to events that involved parents. Sally was just as kind and enthusiastic as she’d been that first night in Percy’s living room. She asked about Annabeth’s studies and what she wanted to do after graduation. For once, Annabeth felt like an adult was looking at her as more than just an athlete— Sally saw her as a whole person, one with goals and dreams and plans that didn’t have anything to do with the Olympics. It was a revelation that was as exciting as it was new.

They talked for hours, the conversation coming easily as Annabeth and Sally got to know each other. It would’ve been a perfect evening were it not for the tinny, annoying voice in the back of her mind reminding her that this communion was only temporary. It would be foolish to allow Sally to take up real estate in her life, knowing that the foundation would be gone in just a few months.

It was becoming more obvious by the day that Annabeth was in trouble: not even a full two months into their experiment, she was already having trouble compartmentalizing her emotions. She wanted to believe that she was simply a good actress, that she was capable of walking away at the end of this with her head high and heart intact, but every word that fell from his lips made it harder and harder to lie to herself. 

The truth was obvious, if unpleasant: it was going to hurt. When the Olympics were over and they were back at home, when the lie was behind them and their relationship dissolved, Annabeth would be forced to adapt to a world after him.

No use in getting hung up on the inevitable.

-

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 84

1:23 PM - PERCY J:
Here

1:23 PM - ANNABETH:
I’ll be down in a few min

1:23 PM - PERCY J:
Ur not ready? Smh. I’m
coming up

1:24 PM - ANNABETH:
It’s not even 1:30 yet!

1:24 PM - PERCY J:
Oops 

Annabeth sighed, walking out into the living room to unlock the deadbolt on the door. “Percy’s coming up in a minute,” she called toward Hazel who was curled up on the end of the couch with her drawing tablet in hand. “If he knocks, could you let him in?”

“Sure thing,” Hazel nodded, shooting her a bright smile. “Where are you going?”

“Baseball game,” Annabeth answered, raising her voice slightly as she returned to her room. 

“Ooh! Do you wanna borrow my Giants hat?” she squealed excitedly. 

Annabeth leaned out of her doorway, shooting Hazel an incredulous look. “Now, why would I want to do that?”

“Oh, come on,” Hazel sighed. “You should look the part.”

“I will,” Annabeth laughed. She stepped back into her room, pulling the pinstriped jersey over her black t-shirt. It was oversized, not that it really mattered since she never bothered to button it anyway. She stepped into the bathroom, pulling a brush through her hair that was, thankfully, still mostly-straight from the night before.

Just as she was setting her brush down, she heard a knock from the other room. “Just a second,” Hazel called, and Annabeth could hear her shuffling toward the door. “Hey, come on in.”

“Thanks,” Percy replied, their voices both sounding muffled through the walls. “Is she actually almost ready or should I make myself comfortable?”

Hazel laughed as Annabeth grabbed her baseball cap from her desk and made her way toward the door. He was hovering near the end of the counter, arms folded across the front of a navy blue long-sleeved New York Yankees t-shirt, and she realized that it was the first time he’d been inside her apartment. She almost felt bad for not giving him more of a tour, but it wasn’t like there was much to see anyway. Mostly she was just thankful that Thalia wasn’t home. 

“You can make yourself comfortable if you want to, but I think we’re going to be late if you do,” she said as she walked back out into the living room.

Percy’s eyes shot toward her, freezing as he gave her a once over. He looked a little confused as his arms slowly uncrossed and fell to his sides, his mouth parting in a silent, unknown question. 

“Well, we should probably get going,” she said, not sure what to make of the awkward silence that had accompanied her arrival. “I’ll see you later, Haze.”

Hazel, who had already settled back into the corner of the couch, waved. “You guys have fun.”

“We will,” Annabeth said, stepping forward and looping her arm through Percy’s. He was still staring, a dumbstruck expression on his face as she led him out of the apartment. Once they were in the hall, she looked over. “Are you broken?”

“I’m—” he stammered before he laughed like whatever he was thinking was the most ridiculous thing in the world. He gestured toward her and she looked down, thinking maybe she must have spilled something on herself. “I guess I just assumed you’d be a Giants fan. It caught me off guard.”

“How do you know I’m not just trying to butter you up, Mr. Native-New-Yorker?” she teased, nudging him lightly in the ribs before letting her arm drop away from his. “Maybe this is all new.”

“Nah,” he shook his head, reaching for the cap she carried in her other hand. “This is broken in, well-loved. Definitely not new.”

“So, you caught me,” Annabeth rolled her eyes. “I’m a not-so-secret Yankees fan.”

“And a born and raised San Franciscan one at that,” Percy shook his head in disbelief. “Is your family from New York or something? There’s gotta be a story there.”

“Oh, there’s a story,” she laughed, pushing her hands into the pockets of her jeans as they started down the stairs. “My, uh… My dad is a die-hard Giants fan. He was constantly badmouthing New York when I was a kid— which I didn’t get then, not really knowing about the rivalry and all that. All I knew was that my dad really hated the Yankees.

“He took me to a game against New York when I was about twelve; my first major league game ever. I was so excited and I’d been saving my allowance for months because I knew I wanted to buy a souvenir. So we get to the park and my dad lets me go up to the team store by myself to look around, and then I realize that my stupid little twelve-year-old mind hadn’t really considered that I would probably only find a bunch of Giants stuff.” 

Annabeth smiled to herself, recalling the events clearly. It was mildly embarrassing but it was funny nonetheless. “But I got really upset about it— like, I was crying in the store, okay? So this woman comes over and she asks what’s wrong and literally gives me the Yankees cap off of her head. She just put it in my hands and was, like, excited to be handing it off.”

“Is that this one?” Percy asked, looking at the cap in his hands again. 

“Yep,” Annabeth nodded. “I’ve had a few others but that one’s my favorite.”

“What did your dad say?”

“He was so annoyed,” she laughed, pushing through the door to the parking lot and stepping into the blinding afternoon sun. “That made the embarrassing ordeal more than worth it.”

“Hmm,” Percy hummed thoughtfully as they walked up beside the bike. He opened the compartment, taking out the helmets and dropping the cap in their place. “Have you always been such a contrarian?”

Annabeth smiled, taking her helmet from him and pulling it over her head. “Only to my father.”

By the time they’d arrived at Oracle Park, procured the must-have ballpark snacks, and made their way down to their seats, it was the top of the second and the afternoon sun was truly scorching. Knowing Percy as well as she did by now, it probably shouldn’t have surprised her to realize just how good their seats were. They moved slowly through the crowd as they worked their way down to the field level, just a few rows behind the Yankees’s dugout. Aside from one or two playfully heckling spectators, no one made a fuss about their attire despite there being a massive disparity of Yankees fans to Giants fans. 

“You know, I would’ve worn my jersey too,” Percy laughed as they settled into their seats, “but I thought you’d think I was a dork.”

“Joke’s on you,” Annabeth smiled after taking a sip from her drastically overpriced Coca-Cola that Percy had insisted on buying. “I already think you’re a dork.”

“And you’re willing to be seen in public with me anyway,” he shook his head. “Your charitable nature knows no limits, Miss Chase.”

She grinned, laughing at his ridiculous reply. “Thank you. I try very hard.”

It didn’t escape her notice how much things had changed. The way that joking had become so easy, or the way that being with him had begun to feel so natural and comfortable— if it were anyone else, any other set of circumstances, it might even feel normal. They were getting to know each other (in fact, a strong case could be made that he already knew her better than most people could ever hope to) and growing closer was just the natural progression of things. 

Still, she’d have to pull on a particularly strong set of blinders not to see how much more familiar they’d become in the last thirty-six hours alone. There was a not-so-small part of her that worried about that— that maybe he was only being so warm to her because of what she’d told him a few nights before. And getting to know Sally better had unleashed a new fear that she had been previously unaware of: that he was just being nice to her because he was just a nice guy, because he was raised by Sally Jackson to always be a nice guy.

But then again, she thought, he wasn’t always nice. When she thought back to the interview and the way she’d been praying to fade into a cloud of mist at the mere mention of Luke, Percy had been angry. He’d taken control of the situation in as calm of a manner as she imagined was possible, but the signs were all there. His voice was deeper, fuller somehow, his eyes narrowed and dark. She recalled vividly the way his pulse jumped in his throat, how he held her just a little tighter than necessary. 

Knowing what she knew, it was almost impressive. That wasn’t to say that she’d expected him to dive across the table and punch the reporter in the face (though Annabeth herself had considered it, even spent some time wishing that she could turn back time and go through with it), but she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d exploded. Percy fought to rein in his anger, and she felt sort of proud of him for that. (Not that she’d ever say that to him, of course.)

The game was mostly enjoyable, despite the heat, but Annabeth found herself getting distracted easily anyway. Entire innings passed without her notice as they talked and laughed, pausing to watch when things were a bit more intense but never truly giving the players their full attention. When she wasn’t lost in conversation, her eyes drifted automatically toward the outfield— or rather, to the cove just on the other side of the packed bleachers. 

“You wanna build something like this?” Percy asked, calling her attention back.

Annabeth shrugged. “I think it would be fun. I like the challenge of incorporating so many elements into one space. And the design possibilities for something like this are virtually endless.”

“So, out of everything that you could possibly do,” he mused, his eyes moving from her face to the field and then back again, “what made you want to build ballparks?” 

“Not just ballparks,” she laughed, her fingers fiddling with the deteriorating paper rim around the top of her cup. “I want to create public spaces, places where people gather and enjoy shared experiences. Ballparks, yeah— but also things like theaters or museums.”

She looked up from her cup, surprised to see him studying her so intently, as if he were committing every word to memory in case he needed them later. Annabeth looked back out toward the field, though his eyes were still on her. It was intense — the feeling of those deep, green eyes — but she was growing to crave it.

“I just think that there’s something really special about that, you know?” she mused, gesturing vaguely to the stadium around them. “I mean, isn’t it kind of cool to see these old stadiums and think about all that’s happened here? Some of these places have literally hundreds of years of history, sometimes way more. Like, okay— look at the Colosseum, for example. It’s one of the oldest standing structures in the world, right? It’s been around for nearly two thousand years and hundreds of people still visit every day, just to look at it.”

She realized suddenly that she was rambling, dominating the conversation with something she was sure he couldn’t care less about. When she looked back at Percy, she felt her cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment.

“Sorry,” she added quickly. “I know I get a little too into it sometimes. It’s weird.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” he said, his brow furrowing slightly. His attempt at making her feel better only caused the blush on her cheeks to deepen. “You like the idea of building something that people will recognize and remember. What’s so weird about that?”

The answer to his question was more convoluted than he could understand. Annabeth had spent so much of her life trying to navigate a world she didn’t feel a part of. Her mother had left her behind, her father was little more than a sporadic interference in her life (even if he was technically present), and half of the time, she wasn’t even sure that her stepmother actually knew her name. The only time that she’d ever felt like she truly belonged to something had been during her time with the Castellans— before everything went horribly wrong, back when she’d felt like she was finally doing what she’d been born to do. 

Walking away from volleyball hurt her in more ways than one. The wave that had crashed into her life destroyed everything in its path — her self-esteem and pride, her relationship with the Castellans, her friendship with Silena, whatever fragile trust that had once existed between herself and her father —  and she’d lost herself in the flood that followed. Most days, it felt like she was still swimming, kicking her legs as hard as she could but never quite managing to reach the surface.

Everything she’d ever cared for had always felt so paper thin and delicate and she was tired. Tired of letting go, tired of good things slipping through her fingers. She’d become so exhausted by the transience of her life, of the way that she’d never felt like she would find a place that was right for her. All she wanted was to become something that wouldn’t be so easily lost to the destructive and relentless hands of time.

“I don’t always feel very anchored,” she said, trying to give him some sort of a reasoning even if the truth felt too big to speak at the moment. “It still seems like I’m drifting sometimes, like everything can just vanish in an instant. Then I think about these places that have weathered storms and earthquakes and floods and I just think… I don’t know, wouldn’t it be kind of cool to create something permanent?”

He watched her, his eyes flitting over her face as her words settled over him. The sounds of the crowd around them felt distant, waves of whoops and cheers rolling through the stands as she continued to await his response. “Yeah,” he nodded after a moment, “yeah, that would be kind of cool.”

Annabeth felt a hand on her shoulder, giving her a nudge that pulled her attention away from Percy. She looked behind her, at the person that had touched her, and found them grinning and pointing excitedly toward the field. Looking back out over the crowd, her eyes landed on the massive screen situated above the scoreboard, on the two people in the shot that looked suspiciously like herself and Percy, and the words that were plastered across the bottom of the frame.

“Come on!” the stranger implored, and a few other spectators joined in. “Kiss!”

She felt her cheeks redden almost instantly as the realization clicked and the words on the screen seemed to have meaning for the first time. Her only relief was that Percy appeared equally as surprised when she looked back. The crowd faded into the background, lost to her entirely as their stares remained locked in a lingering question.

A dozen thoughts battled for dominance in her mind, some that urged her forward and others that held her back. Time may have very well frozen for all she knew— the only thing she was sure of was that he was still staring at her, his lips parted just so. Her heartbeat pounded, nervousness kicking itself into a storm in her stomach as she offered the most subtle nod she could manage. 

He was less nervous, more sure, the way she should have been— it wasn’t a real kiss, after all. Besides, she thought to herself, it was mostly inevitable. She’d assumed that they would find themselves sharing a kiss at some point or other during their scheme. She’d even wondered what it might feel like, how frazzled her nerves would feel when the moment arrived.

But when Percy dipped his head toward her, the hand that had been resting on the back of her seat moving to cup the side of her face instead, her mind was silent. Slowly, his eyes fell closed as he pressed his mouth to hers and whatever remained around them fell away. Instead of bursting into flames or sparks like she’d thought might happen, Annabeth was as still as she could be as he leaned toward her, afraid that even the tiniest movement would cause everything to shatter. 

The kiss was chaste and quick, even though it felt like a millennium had passed since he’d first leaned in. When he pulled away, his eyes seemed to be searching for some indication that what he’d done was okay, so she did all that she knew how to do: she smiled. His hand fell away from her face as they both looked back out toward the field: to the rows and rows of people that were blissfully unaware of the weight of what had just transpired, to the baseball players that didn’t know about the swarm of butterflies that had been set loose in her chest, to the flashing neon pink hearts that framed the image on the big screen that had already moved on to another couple.

The stadium felt too loud now, a harsh and brash contrast to the silence that she’d created for herself a moment before. Even in the chaos, she felt the weight of the silence between them as they both truly focused on the baseball diamond for the first time since they’d arrived at the park. 

“That was sweet, you two,” the stranger behind them said, leaning forward in-between Percy’s and Annabeth’s heads. She had a Giants hat pulled on over her short, dark brown hair and a round face that was sporting a smile so bright it was blinding. “Even for a couple of Yankees fans.”

Annabeth smiled politely, glancing over at Percy who still seemed to be unsure of whether or not he should have kissed her. He tilted his head and said something to the woman, but Annabeth wasn’t listening. Her eyes were trained on him, his mouth and his jaw and his high, perfect cheekbones. It struck her, suddenly and with the strength of a gale force wind, that nothing was ever going to feel the same now that she knew what it was like to feel his lips on hers, even for a moment.

The taste of his lips, salty from the popcorn they’d been sharing, was still fresh on her own and she knew immediately that she would remember it long after that afternoon. It would haunt her when she thought about the end, when she remembered that August was creeping up faster than she’d ever thought possible. And when it was over, she’d remember that afternoon in the sun, his hand gentle against her cheek and his salty-sweet lips brushing against hers.

This, she thought, was going to hurt. 

art by amesliu

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 84

Even with the sun beating down on them, it took another inning for the awkwardness to fully burn off. It became immediately apparent that neither of them had known what to say or do after the moment had passed, and Percy and Annabeth focused on the game for the first time since arriving at the park. The ice was beginning to thaw going into the ninth, and with the Yankees up by three runs, it felt like maybe the afternoon might not be a complete wash after all. 

She startled when she felt his elbow nudge hers on the armrest, looking over with a surprised expression. Percy looked as natural as ever, as if the last twenty minutes of silence had never happened. “I went grocery shopping this morning.”

Annabeth tilted her head, confused. “Okay?”

“I got ingredients for alfredo,” he smiled, unbothered by her apparent confusion, “so that I could make dinner for us before I drive you home.”

“Oh,” she said, considering the offer. She was mostly surprised that he wanted to spend more time with her given the recent awkwardness, but she wasn’t one to turn down a home-cooked meal— especially not if Percy was the person doing the cooking. “Are you sure you won’t give me food poisoning?”

“I promise that I will try very hard to avoid doing that,” Percy grinned. “Is that a yes?”

“You never really asked me a question, you know.”

“Fine, fine,” he sighed, turning his body in the seat to face her. He took her hand, squeezing it dramatically. “Annabeth Chase, would you do me the profound honor of allowing me to prepare a meal for you this evening?”

Annabeth laughed as she rolled her eyes as she pulled her hand away. “Alright, don’t make a scene.”

“Yeah, I think we already caused enough of a scene,” Percy sighed, turning back toward the field and relaxing against the seatback. “I’m, uh— I’m sorry about that.”

“Why should you be sorry?” she asked before she could think to stop herself. Annabeth dropped her voice a bit— not that it would matter if anyone overheard, but it made her feel a little better anyway. “I mean, it’s not your fault they put the camera on us or anything.”

“No, but it was still weird,” he swallowed, his eyes still intently and purposefully focused on the runner currently darting from second base to third. 

“Percy,” Annabeth shook her head, “it’s not a big deal. Don’t overthink it.”

He turned his head back to her, something wholly unreadable swirling in his green eyes. After a few moments, he nodded. “Yeah, you’re right,” Percy shrugged, brushing it off. His tone sounded much more even now. “It’s nothing.”

If faking a smile when you wanted to scream was an Olympic sport, Annabeth was confident that she would have taken home the gold.

-

When Percy had mentioned that he wanted to cook pasta for her, she’d assumed that she had a basic idea of what that might look like. What he’d failed to mention, however, was that his idea of ‘cooking pasta’ was a little more hands-on than hers had been. 

And, of course, when she’d offered to assist, he’d simply smiled politely and refused her help… which was probably for the best. Annabeth — whose wayward mother had never been much of a caregiver (even before she’d driven off into the desert) and whose father was much more of a frozen lasagna type of cook — wasn’t exactly a skilled chef. Seeing what he was able to create, however, almost made her wish that weren’t the case. 

Watching Percy Jackson navigate a kitchen was truly an experience. It felt like something that should be done in front of a crowd, the careful and practiced way that he moved so confidently from one step to the next. She sat at the island, her chin resting on her hand and a half-cocked smirk on her lips as she observed him moving effortlessly around the choreographed chaos that he was conducting. He slung a dish towel over his shoulder and pushed the long sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows as he walked from cabinet to cabinet gathering tools and ingredients.

Percy poured flour directly onto the freshly sanitized countertop, adding eggs to the bowl-shaped impression he’d formed in the mound before dousing the concoction in what she assumed was olive oil (though the bottle looked to be much fancier than the bulk-sized, store-brand version that she and her roommates kept on hand). He kneaded the mixture while they talked, hardly even looking down as hands that looked like they’d been created for this exact purpose attentively worked magic on the dough. 

She wondered how many other surprises were beneath Percy’s carefully projected exterior.

While the dough rested, he prepared two small salads and delivered them to the table with a smile. They talked as they ate, and the tense silence that had fallen over them back at the stadium felt like a distant memory. If Percy had been in any way affected by the events of the afternoon, he hid it well. When the salad plates were empty, she carried them to the sink and decided that serving as the cleanup crew would be her most valuable contribution to the meal.

In an attempt to offer whatever help she could, Annabeth washed the dishes while Percy carefully rolled out the dough and cut it into evenly sliced ribbons before laying them over a baking rack to dry out. Then, once the pasta was cut and the sink empty, Annabeth drifted back to the table, still keeping vigil as Percy melted butter in a cast iron skillet and cooked the long, thin strips of chicken to a perfect char. 

She watched in awe as he prepared the alfredo— no notes or recipes or frantic calls to his mother for help. It was something like a ballet, the way he balanced all of this, and looking effortlessly at home as he did. She could practically envision Sally leading a younger Percy 

When it was finished, Percy slid two plates onto the table with a grin. “Oh,” he said, holding up a finger as he turned on his heel, “I almost forgot.” He pulled the dish towel off of his shoulder and discarded it on the counter as he walked back into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. A moment later, he returned to the table with a bottle of wine, a corkscrew, and a single wine glass. “For you.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Annabeth blushed, watching as Percy carefully removed the cork from the chilled bottle of pinot noir and poured a glass. 

“I know,” he shrugged, “but you liked this at the restaurant the other night and after the week you’ve had, I thought you could use something a little nicer.”

As he slid the glass toward her with a sheepish smile, she stared down into the red liquid and the realization settled over her like a weighted blanket. Percy didn’t know what to do or say— he didn’t know how to act around her now that he knew the truth. He’d been trying to distract her with outings and dinners in an attempt to make her feel better, and she’d be a fool not to see that he felt sorry for her.

It was so simple that she’d overlooked it, but it made sense now. He’d been acting strange ever since they’d left the Labyrinth a few nights before, and while she hadn’t immediately found it too unusual that he’d wanted to spend virtually every free moment of their weekend together, it all seemed so embarrassing suddenly. 

She lifted the glass to her lips and took a long sip. “Well, it was still unnecessary,” Annabeth reasoned, trying to keep her anxious thoughts buried deep in the recesses of her mind. “Now you have a corkscrew you’ll never use.”

“Nah, I’m sure I’ll use it plenty,” he laughed as he settled into his chair and lifted his fork. “Most girls like wine, right?”

Annabeth smiled politely, intent on ignoring the implication of his words and the jealous, bitter feelings they gave her. She took another sip to calm her nerves, setting the glass on the table just as her cell phone rang. 

As she began to rise to go and retrieve it from the kitchen counter, Percy held up a hand to stop her and hurried to grab the phone. “Do you wanna answer it?” he asked as he stepped away from the table.

“Depends on who it is,” she answered, trying to keep her tone light. “If it’s Connor, definitely not.”

Percy chuckled, glancing down at the phone as he made his way back toward Annabeth. “It says ‘Frederick’?”

Annabeth’s smile faded, her eyes widening slightly. She held out her hand and Percy placed the vibrating device in her palm. “That’s my dad,” she muttered, mostly to herself— and mostly out of disbelief. She stared at the screen for one more ring before tapping the green button and bringing the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Annabeth,” Frederick said immediately, his enthusiasm as flat as ever. “I’m glad you picked up. How are you?”

“Um, I’m fine,” she answered, her brow knitting. A pit of nervousness reopened in her stomach for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Frederick Chase was not the kind of father that called just to chat. “Is everything alright?”

“I suppose the technical answer is ‘yes’,” he sighed, the same agitated sound she’d heard a thousand times in her life, “although I feel like it’s a bit of a slap in the face for me to learn that you’re seeing someone from a fan reel on the sports network.”

Her mind went blank for a moment, piecing together what he was saying slowly before it finally clicked: her father, a known Giants fan, never missed watching a game and had apparently seen footage of her in the stands with Percy. She didn’t respond immediately, lifting her eyes from the table to Percy, who was giving her a neutrally supportive look. 

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself, Annabeth?” Frederick continued. “You couldn’t spare so much as a phone call to your father?”

“I didn’t think you’d care,” she answered tersely. “When have you ever cared about who I’m dating?” Percy’s eyebrows raised at that, obviously intrigued to learn that he was the apparent subject of their conversation. 

“It would have been the considerate thing to do,” he chastised. “But that’s neither here nor there now, I suppose.” Annabeth braced herself, wondering what the true reason for his call had been. “I want to meet him.”

“What?” she all but gasped, the shock apparent in her tone. “You’re joking, right?”

“Why would I joke about something like this, Annabeth,” Frederick answered. “My only daughter has a partner that she is apparently close enough with to feel comfortable about cavorting in public— is it so audacious that I would like to meet this boy?”

“Cavorting?” Annabeth repeated. Percy’s expression seemed confused, not even making an attempt to disguise how intently he was following her side of the conversation. “Now you’re just being ridiculous.”

“The fact remains that I want to meet this boy, Annabeth,” he said with a touch more finality in his voice. “Your stepmother and I would like to invite you both to have dinner with us next week.” 

Annabeth tried not to grimace at the offer but failed. She covered the mouthpiece as she whispered to Percy, “He wants to have us over for dinner.” 

His eyebrows raised again, considering it a moment before he shrugged. Frederick’s voice was droning on in the earpiece again but her focus was still on Percy. 

“Hello?” Frederick said, louder and more annoyed. “Annabeth, be mature about this, for Chrissakes. It’s dinner with your parents, not a public inquisition.”

“I don’t know what our schedules look like,” she answered, lifting her palm away from the mouthpiece with her gaze still fixed on Percy. “I don’t know when we’ll have time.” 

Percy gave her an almost defeated sort of look, like there was something he wanted to say but he didn’t want to interrupt. 

Annabeth covered the bottom of the phone again. “Well? What am I supposed to say?”

“We’ll figure it out,” he said quietly as he shook his head. Annabeth stared in disbelief, shocked that he would be so open to the idea of meeting her father. “Just tell him we’ll let him know a time that works for us.”

“You’re serious?”

“You met my mom,” he smirked. “It’s only fair.” 

Annabeth groaned, dropping her hand away from the microphone. “Look, dad,” she said, exasperated. “Let me talk to him and see what our schedules look like. Percy usually has meets on the weekends and I have a big tournament in a few weeks so I’m going to be really busy, too.”

She could hear the scoff almost immediately. “Right, of course. Well, we wouldn’t want to interfere with your training, now would we?” he said with an almost patronizing edge to his words. Annabeth felt the heat rise on her face as she prepared to fire back, but Frederick continued before she had the chance. “No matter— just let me know something in the next few days so that Helen can prepare.” 

“Okay,” she said flatly, “I’ll let you know.” 

“Wonderful,” Frederick said, sounding more cheery in that moment than he had for their entire conversation leading up to it. “I look forward to it. Well, talk soon.”

“Right,” Annabeth nodded. “Bye, dad.”

“Goodbye, Annabeth.”

She pressed the button to end the call before she placed her phone face down onto the table and ran her hands down her face. “Why did you let me answer that?” 

“Oh, come on, Diner Girl,” Percy smiled, reaching over to top off her wine glass. Sensing her obvious distress, he filled it a fair bit more than had on the first pour. “It won’t be so bad.”

She wanted to believe the smile on his lips was genuine, that maybe he wasn’t planning to hold this against her. She wanted to trick herself into thinking that this was all perfectly normal, and maybe it would have been, if it weren’t for those goddamned contracts sitting in Brunner’s file cabinet. Being forced through this ritual with her father was bad enough, but subjecting Percy to an evening with Frederick and Helen Chase was just cruel.

And then, she thought, when it was all over, her father would have one more arrow in his quiver to fire at her whenever he set out on his tirades; one more example of how she had failed. Percy might not have had the best father-figure but, from all of the evidence that she’d seen, he’d sort of won the lottery on great mothers. Annabeth, on the other hand, technically had three parents and none of them had ever been anything even close to nurturing.

Her support system these days consisted mostly of Connor Stoll and the tiny voice in her mind that pushed her to prove her dad wrong. Percy had begun to make his way onto the list, but she knew better than to expect too much from him. He didn’t owe her anything, much less unconditional support, and expecting that level of devotion had burned her before.

Still, even if Percy was up to the challenge, her parents were a tough crowd. The smile on Percy’s lips wouldn’t work its usual magic within the walls of the Chase home. 

“Hey,” he said, reaching over to cover her hand with his as if he’d sensed the beginning of her spiral. “It’s not a big deal. I can handle an angry dad.” 

“Maybe,” she sighed, “but you haven’t met mine.”

His mouth twitched and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what he was thinking. “It’s just dinner, Beth,” he said gently, that nickname coming to his lips again. Annabeth looked down at her plate, deciding that it probably wasn’t a good time to be thinking about Percy’s lips.

“I know,” Annabeth frowned. She took a breath before she shook her head, pulling her hand away with a newfound determination to ignore the pall that her father’s unexpected phone call had cast over their meal. “Speaking of dinner,” she said, reaching for her fork, “ours is getting cold.”

She twirled her fork in the pasta, acutely aware of his eyes lingering on her. When she looked up again, he was eyeing her carefully and she didn’t think she’d had enough to drink to be able to blame the blush in her cheeks on the wine. “What?”

“I—” he started, his hand still lingering in the spot on the table hers had been occupying a moment before. Percy sighed, sitting up straight again as he dragged his hand back, picking up his own fork. “It’s nothing. I just hate to see you so stressed out.”

“I’m not stressed—” The look he gave her made her stop short. “Okay, fine; I’m stressed. But it’s not your fault.”

“Really?” he scoffed, clearly not believing her claims. “You’re going to tell me that all of this,” he waved his fork as he gestured between them, at the vague space that held something she didn’t know how to name, “isn’t stressing you out?”

Annabeth considered it for a moment, poking at her plate. She thought about the things in her life that were adding strain to her shoulders, the things that made her days feel longer and less bearable. It didn’t take long to come to the conclusion that having the opportunity to get to spend time with Percy was anything but stressful. 

“No,” she shook her head as she looked up again.

“No, what?”

“No, it’s not stressing me out.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in, but eventually Percy nodded. He twisted his fork in his pasta and brought a bite to his mouth. “Well… cool,” he said after swallowing. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Is it stressing you out?” Annabeth, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious. He’d seemed so confident that it must be bothering her, now she wondered if he was only assuming such because it was stressful for him. 

Now it was his turn to think about the answer to that question, but thankfully he didn’t deliberate for too long. “Not really,” Percy answered with a soft shrug of his shoulders. “It’s not even inconvenient or anything; plus I like hanging out with you.”

Annabeth looked back down at her plate, focusing intently on her dinner rather than the fact that his apparent indifference had shot straight through her like a jolt of electricity. It was her own fault— the events of the day had brought her confusing feelings into the light even more than they had been previously and she’d allowed herself to forget their situation. 

His words weren’t particularly cold, but they were the reminder that she needed. 

Thankfully, it only took a few minutes for the awkwardness to fade again and the rest of their meal passed in mostly pleasant conversation. She complimented his cooking skills more than once and he’d only laughed a little when he offered to teach her, and when they’d finished eating, they worked side by side to clean the kitchen. He pressed the cork back into the bottle of wine and set it in the fridge, commenting that he’d save it for the next time she came over. 

She liked the sound of that, maybe to a point that was a little silly— of course she’d be over again in the near future, but it still felt nice to know that he was thinking about it, too. The brief wave of disappointment she’d felt earlier was a distant memory as she drove home, wondering how many glasses of that sweet wine it would take to wash the salty taste of his lips from her mind.

-

The end of the weekend brought about everyone’s favorite time of year: finals week.

For Annabeth, it was going to be an especially hectic week consisting of three exams and two presentations, none of which she felt truly prepared for. She’d intended to spend her weekend studying and practicing presenting, but her outing with Percy had thrown a rather large wrench into those plans— and perhaps most surprising of all was that she couldn’t really find it in herself to be too upset about it. 

It wasn’t just the studying that kept her busy. Katie and Hazel had decided at the last minute to throw a graduation party for Thalia and had recruited Annabeth’s help since they had less than a week to pull everything together. Annabeth’s responsibilities were, thankfully, pretty simple: sending out the invite texts and making sure that the apartment was party-ready. The other girls had assured her that they had everything else under control.

As soon as she got home from Percy’s apartment that evening, she set to making a guest list. Once she was mostly satisfied, she knocked lightly on Thalia’s door and the sound of the bass riff faded. “Yeah?”

Annabeth pushed the door open, lingering in the doorway. “Hey, I’m getting ready to send the party details out,” she said as Thalia pulled the guitar strap over her head and placed the instrument into its stand. “I just wanted you to double check this list and make sure I didn’t miss anyone.”

She held her phone out and Thalia took it, looking over the contacts in the group text Annabeth had drafted. Thalia bounced on her toes a little as she read, the endless energy she always seemed to have needing somewhere to go while she stood otherwise still. “Yeah, I think that looks good,” she grinned as she handed the phone back. 

“Perfect,” Annabeth smiled as she pressed Send. “Done.”

Thalia nodded, and something kind of strange crossed her face. “Do you have a minute?”

“Uh, sure,” she shrugged, sliding her phone into her pocket. “What’s up?”

Two polka-dotted socks carried Thalia across a messy floor before she plopped down on her bed and gestured for Annabeth to join her. The scene felt oddly reminiscent of the night after Huntress’s show when Annabeth had found her waiting in her room, but since Thalia didn’t seem too bothered, she tried not to worry as she settled into the empty spot beside her. 

“How’re things?” she asked vaguely, though the real question hiding behind the casual sentiment was crystal clear. 

“They’re good,” Annabeth nodded. She hadn’t brought the subject up again after that night, but since she and Percy hadn’t stopped seeing each other, she assumed that Thalia had to know that things were okay. Still, she was quiet for a moment before she continued. “I think you’d be kind of surprised to meet the person he is now.”

Thalia seemed to chew on that thought for a minute, staring up at the ceiling with her choppy, dyed-black hair fanned out on her pillow. “I think so too, actually,” she said after a while. Thalia turned her head to look up at Annabeth who was still sitting up beside her. “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Now, that made her nervous. Annabeth tilted her head, eyes narrowing slightly. “What do you mean?”

After a second, Thalia ran her hands over her face. “Fuck,” she groaned, a sound that did little to dispel the anxiety that was growing in Annabeth’s chest. Finally, she lowered her hands and sat up, turning her body to face her friend. “I’m moving out, Annabeth. I’m going back to New York.”

“I—” she stammered. Annabeth wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting but it certainly wasn’t that. “When? What are you going to do?” 

“End of the month,” Thalia answered. “I know it’s not a lot of time, and I promise I’ll tell Katie and Hazel tonight, I just— I don’t know, the band has a better chance out there and I never really intended to stay in California forever, you know?”

“Your entire band is moving?” Annabeth gaped, still feeling a bit like her sails had just been shot clean through. 

Thalia nodded. “Yeah, we all just decided that there’s never going to be another time like this in our lives, you know?” she mused. Beneath the thin layer of anxiety, Thalia was so obviously excited that it helped to ease Annabeth’s shock somewhat. “We’re all graduating and if we start looking for jobs, we’re going to end up putting roots down here, and that’s just not what we want to do. So we’re going back East and we’re gonna just… figure it out when we get there.” 

“Wow, that’s—” Annabeth floundered, trying to convey the joy she felt for her friend even through the surprise that she was feeling. “That’s really great, Thals.” 

“You think so?” she asked, searching Annabeth’s face for honesty. She chewed her lip nervously. “I feel like I’m not really thinking it through. Like, I know I’m in this position where it’s different because I know that at the end of the day, my dad isn’t going to let me be homeless or whatever, you know? So it’s like I have this kind of safety net that the other girls don’t have and I just hope I’m not leading us all into a mess.”

“This might sound kind of harsh,” Annabeth grimaced, “but you can’t hold yourself responsible if they move of their own volition. I get that you’re worried about letting them down, but they’re all adults. If they decide to take a chance and move to New York, it’s not your responsibility to make everything work out— and it’s not your fault if it doesn’t.”

Thalia exhaled deeply. After a second, she nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “I think I needed to hear that.”

“Honestly, I’m more surprised that you’d want to move so close to them.”

“I always planned to go home,” Thalia frowned, picking at the threads in one of the tears of her dark jeans. “I’m just worried it’s going to be different now.”

She didn’t have to say it, her face made it clear. Annabeth knew that Thalia hadn’t been back to New York since Jason’s funeral, or that she’d barely had contact with her parents since then. They had perfunctory dinners every six months or so that were little more than check-ins to confirm that Thalia hadn’t gotten herself wrapped up in anything unsavory, and once the Graces were satisfied with their daughter’s condition, they handed over a blank check. The arrangement worked out well for Thalia and her parents but it had always been so bizarre through Annabeth’s eyes.

“It probably will be,” Annabeth nodded. “But different doesn’t have to mean bad.”

“Yeah,” Thalia sighed. “I hope so. And… speaking of things being different…” Her voice trailed off in a way that began to make Annabeth nervous again. “I think you should invite Percy to the party.”

Annabeth blinked. She wasn’t even sure how she was meant to react to that, but she was pretty sure that the sputtering, surprised face she was pulling probably wasn’t it. “Are you sure?”

Thalia nodded without even hesitating. “Annabeth, if you trust that he’s different now, I believe you,” she said. “Everything with Jason… it was a long time ago. It hurt at the time and I don’t think that I’ll ever really forget what that felt like, but I—” she frowned a bit, looking down at her hands for a moment before she looked back up. “I’ve never seen you this happy. If he really has changed, I don’t want to leave town without giving him the chance to prove that.”

Annabeth could tell that there was something on the end of Thalia’s tongue, something more she wanted to say. She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, biting it gently as her brow furrowed a bit. When she turned her head slightly, her bright blue eyes looked a little bit watery.

“You know, Jason actually forgave him,” she said thoughtfully after a moment. There was a humor to her words, like she found it ironic that she’d dug her fingers so deeply into a grudge that her own brother hadn’t even held onto. “After the accident, when I picked up his stuff from his dorm, there were these letters. They’d been writing to each other— writing, Annabeth. Like it’s the fucking stone age.”

Thalia did actually laugh at that, but her voice was shaky and it was obvious that she was emotional thinking about it. It was such a Jason thing to do, sending actual hand-written letters. It sent an odd pang of nostalgia through the air and Annabeth gave Thalia a soft smile but didn’t try to offer any sort of reply. Some things were said better without words.

“Jason was always so much better than me. Sometimes I wonder if that’s part of why he came out here; like, maybe he wanted to try and make things okay,” she mused. “With me, with Percy… with all of it.”

Thalia seemed to think about that for a moment and Annabeth could do nothing but watch as she turned the thought over in her mind. To some people, it might seem unreasonable to believe that an eighteen year old kid could make the decision to move across the country in an attempt to repair the broken relationships in his life— people who hadn’t known Jason.

“But the letters— it was obvious he was trying to reconnect somehow. And it seemed like Percy wanted that, too,” Thalia said softly. “If Jason could forgive him, I think I can too. And I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself if I don’t try.”

The reality of it all seemed to strike her then. The way that Percy had come into her life so suddenly and strangely and how their paths might never have crossed if it weren’t for this stupid lie; the way that that series of events had brought Percy back into Thalia’s life, however tangentially, and how she could maybe, finally, get closure for this thing that had so obviously pained her for so long. The fact that this was all happening because of so many little coincidences.

It was quiet for a moment with only a small sniff from Thalia to punctuate the silence. After another minute, Annabeth wrapped an arm over Thalia’s shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze. “If you want him there, I’ll make it happen.” Maybe she should have simply said that she’d pass along the invitation, but if this was what Thalia wanted, she didn’t intend to give Percy a choice in the matter.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of keys jiggling in the front door, followed by laughter announcing Katie and Hazel’s return from the party store. Thalia wiped under her eyes quickly as she sat up. “I guess I should get this over with.”

“We’re gonna miss you, you know,” Annabeth said, watching as Thalia got to her feet. “But I’m really proud of you for following your dream.”

Thalia smiled, her teeth pulling at her lip ring nervously. “I’m gonna miss you most,” she said before jabbing a thumb toward the noise in the living room, “but don’t tell them I said that.”

Laughing, Annabeth stood and wrapped her arm around Thalia’s shoulders as she began to steer her toward the door. “Let’s go break the news.”

-

11:21 PM - PERCY J:
Do you care if I post a pic from
the game today?

11:24 PM - ANNABETH:
Depends

11:24 PM - ANNABETH:
How busted do I look

11:25 PM - PERCY J:
Who even said it was a picture
of you? Narcissist 

11:25 PM - ANNABETH:
Rude. But yeah, that’s fine

11:25 PM - ANNABETH:
Thank you for checking

11:26 PM - PERCY J:
Yeah well I didnt ask last
time and you hated me
for a week and I can’t do
that again 

11:31 PM - ANNABETH:
I’m gonna post the one we
found on the snap map

11:31 PM - PERCY J:
cheeky, I like it

The notification popped up at the top of her screen a moment later and she tapped the banner, a broad, unstoppable smile coming to her lips the moment the image loaded.

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 81

3:21 PM - PERCY J:
What are you doing tonight?

3:43 PM - ANNABETH:
Practicing my presentation

3:43 PM - PERCY J:
That sounds boring

3:43 PM - ANNABETH:
I’m sure it will be, but since
I didn’t get to practice last
weekend, I really need to

3:44 PM - PERCY J:
Should’ve practiced last weekend,
Diner Girl

3:44 PM - ANNABETH:
Well, if you’ll recall, I was a
bit preoccupied

3:44 PM - PERCY J:
Nah, lame excuse

3:48 PM - PERCY J:
Sooooo do you need a practice
audience

3:48 PM - ANNABETH:
Are you volunteering?

3:48 PM - PERCY J:
Tbh it’s really just a ploy to get
you to help me with my biomechanics
paper

3:48 PM - ANNABETH:
Why do you think I am going to
be any help with that

3:48 PM - ANNABETH:
Wtf do I know about biomechanics

3:49 PM - PERCY J:
I just need you to help me edit! 

3:49 PM - PERCY J:
You know I cant spell for shit

3:49 PM - PERCY J:
Come onnnn I have leftovers
from Sunday

3:49 PM - ANNABETH:
It’s Wednesday— don’t you think
those leftovers are past their prime?

3:50 PM - PERCY J:
Not yet, but soon. Hence my inviting
you to help me eat them

3:50 PM - ANNABETH:
Fiiiiine, I’ll come over after practice

3:50 PM - PERCY J:
Good to know that food always
works with you, makes this real
easy for me

3:50 PM - ANNABETH:
Shut up

3:51 PM - PERCY J:
Am I wrong

3:51 PM - ANNABETH:
Our break is over and Hedge
is yelling, I’ll see you later

3:52 PM - PERCY J:
Yeah thats what I thought

-

Their impromptu study date had been surprisingly productive, all things considered. That, of course, meant that they’d done plenty of goofing off in between practicing and editing and studying, but by the time she returned home that night, Annabeth felt much better about her last presentation of the year. 

She’d had time to bring up the graduation party at last and had been met with an understandable amount of hesitancy. Percy was a bit unsure about whether or not he should be there. Eventually, after more than a little begging, he agreed.

With only two days left in the semester, Coach had decided to grant Piper and Annabeth a small mercy and cancel practices for the next few days— an act that presented Annabeth with an unprecedented amount of free time. She hadn’t had four whole days off from practice in nearly two years, and it was a real bummer that she’d have to spend most of it studying. 

It turned out to be an even bigger blessing than she’d initially thought. Thalia’s announcement that she was moving back East meant that the other three girls had only a few weeks to fill her spot or their rent situation was going to become very precarious. So far, things were off to a decent start. Once the initial shock had worn off, Katie posted a notice in a few college groups and they’d already set up times to meet with a couple of people. 

Annabeth hadn’t allowed herself to think too much about Thalia leaving. She was happy for her of course, but it was sad to think about one of her best friends moving to the other side of the country. And then there was the trouble of looking for a new roommate and hoping that they fit in with the current residents— or, at the very least, weren’t too horrifyingly weird. 

Thursday night, Hazel proudly announced that she’d found ‘the one’ and that she was going to set up a time for all of them to get coffee together sometime the following week. But then, when Katie and Annabeth had pressed her for details, Hazel had virtually nothing to supply. Still, they knew that they had to start somewhere, so the date was scheduled. 

By the time Friday rolled around, Annabeth was appropriately exhausted. Her lackadaisical approach to her school work over the past few months had caught up to her and she’d barely even had time to sleep in-between last minute cramming for finals. The moment that she made it home after her last exam, she crashed. 

Annabeth fell face-first onto her bed and didn’t move for fourteen hours. 

-

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 78

When she awoke on Saturday morning, feeling somehow hungover and refreshed, she had about forty-seven text messages from both Connor and Percy, as well as a voicemail from her dad reminding her to pick a time for their dinner. She could hear the sounds of her roommates moving around in the common area on the other side of her closed bedroom door, and that was the thing that finally pulled her to her feet. 

After her shower, Annabeth emerged from her room to learn that Thalia’s parents had, surprisingly, flown in for the ceremony. Thankfully, they wouldn’t be staying for the party— a fact that made everyone feel more at ease. (Not only was the idea of Jove and Beryl Grace dropping in on a college party so entirely surreal that it was altogether unimaginable, but Annabeth couldn’t help but think that they wouldn’t be nearly as understanding of Percy’s presence as Thalia had vowed to be, and she was grateful to avoid a potentially awkward encounter.) 

Tech’s auditorium was small, so each graduate was only allowed two guests. The good news about the Graces making an unexpected visit was that it finally settled a debate in the apartment about which two roommates would get to go. They’d decided to draw names on the day-of, but now they all simply hugged Thalia on her way out the door and promised to have everything ready by the time she returned from the post-ceremony dinner with her parents. 

Connor spent the first part of the afternoon blowing up her phone, double-checking the details of the booze list that he’d been put in charge of and asking a thousand questions that she’d already answered multiple times. She loved Connor, really, but he could be dense. 

Finally, about an hour before people were set to start arriving, she heard a knock on the front door. Annabeth, Hazel, and Katie had spent the entire day making sure everything looked perfect, but it was pretty hard to ignore the very empty countertop where the drinks were supposed to be set up. She hurried over to open the door and was met with the sight of Connor holding two large paper bags.

“Coming through,” he called out as he nudged past her with the clinking bags in his arms and made his way toward the counter. Annabeth laughed and began to close the door when she realized that Connor wasn’t alone. 

“Hey,” Percy grinned, peering around the keg he carried in his arms. Between the surprise of Percy’s early arrival and the mental gymnastics she was doing to calculate the weight of the keg and wondering how he’d managed to get it here on his own, Annabeth was speechless. “Where do you want this?”

“Oh, um,” she shook her head, snapping back to reality as she hurried across the living room and slid open the glass door. “You can set it out here on the patio. Katie and Travis just ran out to grab ice for the bucket.”

He followed, setting the keg on the concrete floor of the patio with so much ease that it seemed impossible. Percy wiped the back of his hand across his forehead as he straightened. “You’ve gotta move somewhere with an elevator.”

“I can’t believe you carried that up three flights of stairs,” Annabeth said, still in awe of the display she’d just witnessed. She could hear Connor and Hazel laughing through the open door and it reminded her of the absurdity of his arrival in the first place. “What are you doing here so early, anyway?”

“I figured Connor needed help,” Percy shrugged. “I called to offer Frank’s car and he said he was already borrowing his roommate’s, but that he could still use some extra hands.”

“So,” she began, glancing back toward Connor briefly, “you spent all afternoon with Connor?”

At that, Percy smirked. “Don’t worry,” he laughed, using a hand on her back to steer her back inside, “he only told me a few of your secrets.” 

“How did you even get his number?” Annabeth asked, her voice quieter now that they were back inside the apartment. She was acutely aware of his hand lingering on the small of her back as he reached his free hand back to slide the patio door closed again. 

“Now, why would I give away my secrets?” he smiled, winking as he did. Percy wasted no time in shifting the subject. “Have you talked to your dad yet?”

“No,” Annabeth groaned. “He called again last night, though. Left me a very nice voicemail.”

“Just tell him we can do next weekend,” Percy said in a tone far too casual for discussing Frederick Chase. “Now that school’s out, I’m free anytime after training.”

When she opened her mouth to respond, Connor’s voice cut in. “Pregame drinks!” he called from the kitchen, much louder than was necessary for the hundred and fifty square foot living space. “What do you want?”

“I’ll make my own,” Annabeth answered with a laugh. Even as she turned her attention toward the other two people in the room, she made a mental note to text her dad before everyone arrived. “Last time I let you pour me a drink, I couldn’t feel my nose for two hours.” 

“Heavy pour, huh?” Percy laughed, following Annabeth toward the kitchen with his hand still securely pressed against her back. His thumb rubbed a small circle on her spine, an act that she couldn’t have ignored if she’d wanted to. They stood on the opposite side of the counter from Connor and Hazel, watching as they finished lining up the last of the mixers and liquor bottles.

“I just like my friends to have fun, alright?” Connor tsked, reaching for a red plastic cup and scribbling his name on the side in barely-legible permanent marker. When he was satisfied, he reached for another cup. “Perce, what can I get you?”

“I’m good,” he shook his head. “I’ll get something a little later.”

“We have Cokes and stuff in the coolers,” Annabeth offered, tilting her head toward him. She would understand if Percy didn’t care to advertise the fact that he didn’t drink (since, on a college campus, it was a pretty rare stance to take and one that usually invoked a needling curiosity as to why), but she didn’t like the idea of him feeling left out. “Are you sure you don’t want something?”

“Positive,” he answered with a small smile as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her temple, a gesture that was becoming surprisingly comfortable. “But thank you.”

Hazel couldn’t hold back her squeal at even the smallest hint of PDA. Dark, shoulder-length corkscrew curls bounced as she fidgeted with excitement. “Percy, I am so glad you came!” she smiled, reaching for a cup and plucking the marker from Connor’s hands. “I feel like we barely know you. It’s not like we got to talk much at Thalia’s show, and Annabeth always keeps you to herself when you’re here.”

“Oh yeah?” Connor chimed in, blue eyes sparkling as he looked up from the whisky he was generously pouring into his Coke. He had a wicked grin on his face as he glanced knowingly between Annabeth and Percy. “You spend a lot of time here, Jackson?”

“Not really,” Annabeth answered shyly. The blush in her cheeks only deepened when she felt Percy stepping up behind her and closing the distance between her back and his chest. “We’ve studied here a couple of times.”

The closeness felt strange but with Hazel standing right there, it seemed like a reasonable enough gesture. At that moment, however, Annabeth suddenly realized that Percy knew that Connor knew the truth, and they were both probably enjoying this display far more than they should be.

“Right,” Connor smirked, twisting the cap onto the bottle of Jack and sliding it back into the row. “Studying.”

“Come on,” Percy chimed in. He rested his chin on Annabeth's shoulder in an embrace that felt strangely comforting. “You really think Hazel is going to allow any funny business under her roof?”

“Hey!” Hazel objected, her mouth falling open. 

A moment later, there was an eruption of laughter that gripped Annabeth’s heart like the hug of an old friend. She didn’t know when Percy had become so comfortable in her life, laughing and joking with her friends. She hadn’t noticed when he’d begun to build relationships with the people that mattered to her, or when he’d become the kind of friend that offered rides and carried kegs and made teasing jokes.

She glanced from Connor’s lopsided smirk to Hazel’s bright smile, felt Percy’s chest rise and fall with laughter when his arm tightened on her waist and pulled her into him. It was one perfect, flawless moment of complete joy that should be frozen in time. Percy had, accidentally, become something extremely real. He was a friend that she hadn’t meant to make, and that realization wasn’t an easy one to swallow.

Something dangerous began to swell in her chest: hope. 

For the first time, she allowed herself to admit that there was some small part of her that hoped he would stay. She hoped that this was the beginning of something— not the middle, not hurtling toward the end. She wanted to hope that this was a sign that he could be a part of their lives on the other side of August and that their friendship didn’t have to end just because the contract did. And maybe more than anything, she found herself hoping that there was a chance that he wanted that, too. 

In her experience, hoping for things had always been a recipe for disaster. Hoping for something made you vulnerable; it opened you up to disappointment. And people were, more often than not, disappointing. Truthfully, if Annabeth had learned anything over the past five years it was that giving someone the power to let you down was dangerous. Hope was dangerous. 

She’d disappeared for a moment, turning into her own mind as the panic crept in and Percy’s face was as unreadable to her as hers was to him, but she didn’t have to see him to know that he'd noticed. It was evident in the way he let his head lull against hers, a languid arm still cast over her torso. 

Annabeth locked desperate eyes with Connor who simply smiled back softly, almost as if he could read her mind. It was small and reassuring and when Percy’s lips pressed against her temple again, she decided that maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing to give that tiny hope someplace to live for a little while. 

-

A few hours later, the apartment was filled with practically every person that Thalia knew within a twenty mile radius. The other members of Huntress had come over as well, turning the night into a celebration of all of their successes— which only served to energize the already exhilarated crowd. It was a tight fit but Annabeth was grateful for the many bodies that filled the living room, each one of them there to dote on Thalia and show her how loved she was. 

“Refill?” Percy asked, his voice a bit louder than she was used to hearing it as he called to her over the music and conversation. He gestured to her empty cup and she pulled it away. 

“Only if you get something for yourself,” she countered. Percy had been avoiding the ‘bar’ (the very loose label that she’d assigned to the kitchen counter covered in libations) all night, and she was beginning to think her suspicion about wanting to avoid questioning had been correct. 

When he opened his mouth to object, she held up her hand. Annabeth rested a hand on his bicep, leaning in closer so that she could lower her voice. “Just pour a Coke into a cup, Percy. No one will know the difference.” He plucked the cup from her hand with a smirk and drifted back toward the kitchen without another word.

She watched as he wove his way through the group, leaning back against the wall while she waited. The vantage point gave her a complete view of the living room: Hazel excitedly talking to a few of her friends that had been invited while still nursing her original drink, Katie batting her lashes at Travis with a warm, alcohol-induced flush on her freckled cheeks, Chris and his girlfriend Clarisse out on the patio trying to convince Thalia’s bandmate Zoë that a keg stand wasn’t that hard. 

It also allowed her ample time to notice Connor sidling up to her with a crooked grin. “You look like you’re having a good time.”

“It’s a party,” Annabeth shot back, still letting her eyes survey the crowd. “Why wouldn’t I be having a good time?”

“Annabeth,” he chided, a bit of a teasing sing-song in his tone. His body language alone was enough for her to know that he was already plenty tipsy, tossing a heavy arm over her shoulders as he leaned into her. “Come on,” Connor laughed, his whisky-tinged words slurring slightly in her ear, “you’re enjoying this.”

She rolled her eyes and tried (unsuccessfully, though she didn’t fight too hard) to shrug him off. “It’s not like that.”

“You like the attention,” Connor shrugged, bringing his cup to his lips. “Nothing wrong with that.” 

“It‘s just for show,” Annabeth muttered, glancing toward the kitchen at last. She finally spotted Percy through the crowd, a tinge of panic shooting through her when she realized who he was talking to. “Oh no.”

“What?”

“Thalia,” she frowned, rising on her toes slightly to try and get a better view. “She’s talking to Percy.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Connor asked, peering over the crowd. “You said she wanted to invite him, right?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Then don’t sweat it,” he shrugged again, letting his arm slip from her shoulders. “What— you think she had you bring him here so that she could chew him out or something?”

“I don’t know,” Annabeth admitted. Even with the new knowledge she had about the situation, it still struck her as odd that Thalia had specifically asked for Percy to be there. It felt like a stark shift from the first conversation that they’d had all those weeks ago. “You know, Thalia told me that Jason reached out to Percy when he first moved to California.”

“No shit?” Connor blinked, raising an eyebrow as he looked back at Annabeth. “And?”

“And apparently they settled things, I guess,” she shook her head. Thalia hadn’t offered up many details and Annabeth had been too surprised to ask for them at the time. “I just don’t know why Percy didn’t say anything about it. I mean, I don’t know if it would’ve changed how I felt about the whole thing, but I think it would’ve made me feel a little better to know that Jason had forgiven him.”

“I don’t know. I think that makes sense,” Connor nodded. “I probably wouldn’t have told you either.”

Annabeth finally accepted that Thalia wasn’t hiding a knife up her sleeve and turned her attention back to Connor. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair like he so often did when he was searching for the right thing to say. It was one of his nervous ticks, one that always became more pronounced when he drank. “He probably didn’t want to tell you because he didn’t want you to think he was, like, manipulating you.”

Annabeth blinked. She glanced toward the kitchen, where Percy and Thalia were still carrying on in what appeared to be amiable (if a bit awkward) conversation, then back to Connor again. “I don’t— I’m confused.”

“Geez,” he laughed, nudging his elbow into her arm lightly. “And you think I’m dense.” Connor tilted his cup toward the kitchen. “He probably didn’t want you to forgive him just because Jason did; he didn’t want you to feel like you didn’t have a right to be upset if you wanted to be. I get it.”

The music was loud in her ears but she was absolutely sure that she’d heard and understood every word that Connor had said. She stared at him for a moment, letting the gravity of his hypothesis sink in, though the weight was softened by the drinks she’d already consumed. “You’re the only person I know that makes more sense when they’re drunk.”

“It’s a gift and a curse, Annababe,” he beamed, tossing his arm over her shoulders again.

“What have I told you about calling me that?”

“What?” Connor pressed, a lazy smile on his lips as he leaned closer. “Think your not-boyfriend won’t like it?”

“You’re being annoying,” she groaned, crossing her arms and wishing that she had a drink of her own to sip on. Her limbs felt languid and loose, and she’d already decided that this next drink would be her last.

“Annoyingly honest,” he agreed. “Another unfortunate part of the curse.”

“This is exactly why I’ve been keeping you two away from each other,” Annabeth sighed. She put on the best grumpy face that she could manage, but the reality was that knowing Connor and Percy had apparently gotten along well enough to have spent an afternoon alone together filled her with something kind of like excitement. 

Connor (her best friend for as long as she could remember) and Percy (who was quickly becoming a central figure in her life) hitting it off was sort of intimidating, but it was good. With a fresh wave of that dangerous hopefulness, Annabeth realized that she liked the idea of these facets of her life beginning to reflect into each other, creating something that was unexpected but wonderful all the same.

“Well, we’ve already agreed he’s joining our fantasy league this fall,” Connor grinned, his words still sounding slightly slurred, “so try to let him down easy when this is all over. Don’t want to make things too awkward.”

A moment later, green eyes broke through the sea of people, bright and warm as he set the cold, plastic cup in her hand. “Sorry that took so long.”

“You’re fine,” Annabeth smiled in return, taking a sip from her drink and feeling the warmth of the vodka almost instantly. “Did… everything go okay?”

Percy nodded and she thought she saw him swallow. “Yeah, it was good,” he said with a strange sort of tightness to his voice. “I think we both needed that.”

“I’m glad,” she said, feeling the relief radiate off of him in palpable waves. She brought the cup to her lips again as Connor pulled his arm free and took a small step back. Annabeth gestured to the two guys in front of her. “This is weird.”

“Why?” Percy asked as he grinned, dimple on full display.

“Yeah,” Connor echoed, and his inebriation seemed even more obvious now with a very sober Percy standing beside him. “Worried he’ll like me more?”

“I don’t think that’s going to be an issue,” she smiled, poking a finger into his chest and laughing when he clutched the spot as if she’d truly wounded him. “You’re intolerable.”

“Hey,” he shook his head, “you tolerate me.”

“I’ve built up an immunity to your idiocy,” Annabeth explained, her words knitting together slightly toward the end of her sentence. Her tongue was beginning to betray her, which was usually her first sign that she’d had enough. Still, she took another long sip from her cup anyway.

Percy nodded, taking in the debate. His eyes settled on Connor, heartily amused. “She’s kind of mean, isn’t she?”

Connor groaned dramatically. “Dude, you have no idea.”

“I am right here,” Annabeth interjected, raising her free hand in mock disbelief. “I can hear you, you know.” 

“Yeah, we know,” Percy smiled, letting his hand settle on her waist again. “Are you saying we’re wrong? You’re the one that said it was weird, after all.”

“I mean, it is kind of weird, right?” she shrugged, glancing between them. The drink in her hand (and the three that had preceded it) had instilled a sense of bravery in her that let her point out the awkwardness that the boys seemed content to ignore. “Like, we’re the only people in this room that know what’s really going on. We’re basically lying to everyone we know. That’s weird.”

“What’s weird about it?” Percy asked, his tone sounding more serious. Connor suddenly seemed interested in the contents of his cup, staring down into the dark liquid as he swirled his drink absentmindedly. Percy’s fingers twitched, giving her side a squeeze. “This?”

“Yes— I mean, no, but—”

“Alright then,” Percy shrugged and let his arm fall away. “Sorry.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Annabeth frowned. Her words weren’t coming out right and she didn’t have the presence of mind to do anything about it. “I just—”

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” he shook his head. There was something in his tone that she couldn’t quite parse— something that wasn’t quite upset, but was definitely sort of guarded. “If you don’t want me to touch you, I won’t.”

Annabeth didn’t even have the words to explain exactly how much that was not the case, and the vodka in her cup certainly wasn’t helping her build a strong argument. She didn’t know what she could do at that moment short of physically pulling his arm around her again, and that definitely didn’t feel like the thing to do. 

In the gaping silence that lingered while she considered all of this, Percy had glanced back toward the kitchen. “I think I’m gonna go grab a Coke. Connor, you need anything?”

“I’m good,” he shook his head, looking up from his cup finally. Percy nodded, slipping back into the crowd and making his way to the cooler in the kitchen. Her eyes followed his retreating form for a moment, brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what had just happened. When she looked back at Connor, he was giving her a strange look. “You’re dumb.”

“Excuse me?” she balked. “What did I do?”

At that, Connor just shook his head. “Just finish your drink, Chase,” he sighed. “With any luck, you’ll forget all of this anyway.” 

“Now you’re just being rude.”

Connor took a step toward her, his eyes slightly reddened but focused and alert. “And you’re being an idiot about all of this. I didn’t think you needed me to tell you that, but apparently you do, so here it is: You’re being an idiot, Annabeth.”

The words hit her in the chest firmly, like someone had just shoved her backwards. Connor was rarely so serious and never so blunt. It caught her off guard to the point that she didn’t have any idea what to do with what he’d actually said. It was Annabeth’s turn to stare down into her cup now, biting her tongue to keep from firing back an insult that she didn’t really mean. 

The room felt too warm suddenly, swaying just the slightest bit and she was beginning to seriously regret drinking as much as she had. She studied the ice in her cup, watching the way the faint purple LED lights that wrapped round the top of the room reflected in the glassy surface of her beverage. It was an obvious act of avoidance— but Connor didn’t say anything else, so at least it worked.

Annabeth stared down at her cup long enough that Connor had apparently given up and wandered away. When she finally raised her eyes again, he was out on the patio talking animatedly with Chris and Clarisse. It was only then that she finally realized Percy hadn’t returned from the kitchen.

She scanned the room again, noticing that Travis and Katie had staked out a corner for themselves, bodies pressed close together as he whispered something in her ear that made her giggle. Thalia, who was completely and utterly wasted by that point in the night, was leaning heavily into Phoebe’s shoulder and laughing so loudly that Annabeth could hear it over the music. 

Percy, however, was nowhere to be found. 

It took some maneuvering for Annabeth to elbow her way through the throng and make it to her bedroom. The door closed behind her, muffling the sounds of the party in a way that felt sort of eerie. She didn’t turn the light on, confident that the brightness would sting her tired eyes uncomfortably, and instead tried to navigate the vague shadows that were just barely visible in the light that filtered in from the streetlamps outside. 

Finally, she made it to her bed, settling on the edge of the mattress. She reached for her phone that she’d left on her nightstand for the evening, squinting as the bright screen lit up. Unsurprisingly, there were a few notifications— all of which she ignored as she navigated straight to her messages.

12:39 AM - ANNABETH:
Where did you go ?

12:39 AM - PERCY J:
I just got home

12:39 AM - ANNABETH:
yyou didn’t say anything
before you left

12:43 AM - PERCY J:
Sorry, I didn’t think you’d notice

Annabeth sighed, setting her phone down beside her as she rubbed her temples to try and ease the aching feeling creeping up her neck. Maybe it was the vodka or maybe it was just her frustration with Percy, but either way, she made a vow to drink plenty of water before she went to bed.

After another long, deep exhale, Annabeth picked up her phone again.

12:45 AM - ANNABETH:
Percy

12:45 AM - PERCY J:
Yeah?

12:45 AM - ANNABETH:
Are we ok

12:47 AM - PERCY J:
Always. Get some sleep Beth

Annoyed with the brush off, she tossed her phone onto her mattress before she rose to her feet and walked across the room to lock her bedroom door. She disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower and wash the feeling of ‘house party’ off of her skin, and by the time she re-emerged, the volume on the other side of the door had diminished significantly. It was obvious that there were still plenty of people lingering in the living room, but the party had begun to settle down, and the music had been lowered in accordance to the mellower vibe. 

It didn’t make much of a difference to her. She was used to sleeping with earplugs in anyway, and she had no intention of showing her face again that night. When she’d dragged herself into bed, water bottle tucked under one arm, she reached for her phone again and tapped automatically into the new message that had been delivered while she was in the bathroom. 

1:12 AM - PERCY J:
I didn’t mean to make it weird

If it had been any other night, she would have let it go. But tonight, with her frustration piqued and her nerves steeled, she felt a bit more emboldened. Her fingers moved across the keyboard quickly as she tapped out her brief response. 

1:21 AM - ANNABETH:
You didn’t. Stop actiung like you did

1:21 AM - PERCY J:
What do you mean

1:21 AM - ANNABETH:
You know what i mean

1:25 AM - PERCY J:
I think we shouldn’t have this
conversation while you’re drunk

1:25 AM - ANNABETH:
You don’t wantto have this
conservation at all

1:33 AM - PERCY J:
Go to sleep Annabeth.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, tired and admittedly a little nauseous as she took a sip of water and locked her phone. She reached down beside her bed for the charger cable and inserted the adapter into the port before sliding her phone back onto her bedside table and settling down into her pillows. As she pushed her earplugs into her ears, letting the already dampened sounds of the party drift even further away, she couldn’t help but let her annoyance simmer.

He was treating her like a child— telling her that she couldn’t handle the conversation and that she needed to go to bed. And for half a moment, when she realized that she was inadvertently doing exactly what he’d instructed, she considered pulling herself out of bed just to spite him. Not that he’d even know, she thought to herself, and that was the only thing that kept her from rising. 

The evening had slipped away and at some point, when her senses weakened and perception dulled, everything had veered off of the course that she thought they were on. 

If Percy wanted to ignore the awkwardness, so be it. Two could play that game.

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 77

When Annabeth awoke the following morning with a throbbing headache and a text from Connor begging her to cancel their standing Sunday morning brunch date, she’d happily crawled right back into bed, intent on spending most of the day recovering from her unusually high alcohol intake from the night before. She didn’t drink often and when she did, it was rarely to a point that she felt compromised her senses, but she’d certainly ignored that rule at Thalia’s party. 

By the time the afternoon rolled around, Annabeth had been staring at the recent text messages on her phone for the better part of an hour, trying her damnedest to remember if she had a right to be as upset with Percy as she currently felt. 

The messages were short and simple and left far too much up for interpretation. She had only vague recollection of the moments that had preceded Percy’s unannounced departure, but she couldn’t remember what it was that he’d done that had apparently ‘made it weird’— or, not made it weird, depending on who’s side of the thread she chose to believe. 

That was, of course, ridiculous. It was plainly apparent even to her reluctant mind that Percy’s story, the one that had not been marred by a not-insignificant amount of vodka, was likely the version closest to reality. Still, it was the last few messages that were causing her the most distress. 

1:22 AM - PERCY J:
I think we shouldn’t have this
conversation while you’re drunk

1:22 AM - ANNABETH:
You don’t wantto have this
conservation at all

Percy, it seemed, had merely been trying to shut down an argument with an inebriated person, one that he knew was going nowhere, but there was definitely something deeper behind her message. What had she been trying to say? Annabeth held her phone in both hands, the top of the screen pressed against her chin as she stared up at the ceiling and tried to remember what they’d been talking about just before things had gone so off the tracks. 

Her phone buzzed in her hands, sending a strange vibration over her skin from the way it pressed against her face. When she lifted the device, Connor’s name was on the screen.

2:31 PM - CONNOR:
Thalia owes me a new liver

2:31 PM - ANNABETH:
What happened to Percy last night

2:31 PM - CONNOR:
Have you no concern for my
failing organs

2:32 PM - ANNABETH:
I’ll give you half of mine

2:32 PM - ANNABETH:
What do you remember

2:32 PM - CONNOR:
This is rude

2:32 PM - CONNOR:
I can’t believe you’re
not even a little bit
worried about your
best friend

2:33 PM - ANNABETH:
If I buy you lunch
will you shut up

2:33 PM - CONNOR:
Youre the bestest
friend in the world

2:34 PM - ANNABETH:
Pick you up in 30m

2:34 PM - CONNOR:
Youre the most beautiful
girl in the universe

2:34 PM - CONNOR:
They should make statues
of your face

2:34 PM - CONNOR:
But then birds would
probably shit on them

2:35 PM - CONNOR:
Which would be funny but
not cool

2:35 PM - ANNABETH:
Are you finished

2:35 PM - CONNOR:
For now. See ya soon
xoxoxoxoxo

-

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 74

The next few days felt strange at best, though she chose to believe that she was bringing it on herself by overthinking. Sunday’s lunch with Connor had done virtually nothing to alleviate any of the residual worry that she had about the way things had been left with Percy at the end of the night. Connor was better at acting sober than she was, but he’d been even more wasted than Annabeth had been and his memories were spotty at best. 

She didn’t hear from Percy until Tuesday, the night before the dreaded photoshoot, when he’d reached out to ask her about what she thought he needed to bring to the Aegis. It was a short conversation, a handful of messages volleyed back and forth about possible outfits that would appease Brunner without being too heavy-handed. 

Surprisingly, Percy didn’t seem too interested in rehashing whatever had happened that night at the party— which left Annabeth with no choice but to tell herself that the mortifying embarrassment she felt was probably just a one-sided byproduct of misremembering through a vodka-cranberry induced fog. Probably.

They'd received the details of the photoshoot fairly last minute, but luckily they’d already had a pretty good idea of what to expect from the ordeal. Annabeth picked him up on her way across town since she had to drive right by his apartment anyway, and Percy was his usual warm self as he tossed a duffel bag into the back and dropped down into the passenger seat. If he harbored any ill will, he hid it well. 

Percy didn’t bring it up, so she didn't either. 

When they arrived at the Aegis on the morning of the photoshoot, they’d both been prepared to deal with a potentially awkward situation. They didn’t know if Chloe Roth, the reporter that they’d met with nearly two weeks before, would be in attendance and the idea of being forced to fake niceties with her was something neither she nor Percy felt very excited about. Thankfully, it seemed that Chloe was nowhere to be found— so the hellacious interview had gifted them with that silver lining at least.

The team that had been sent in to handle the shoot were waiting in the lobby when they arrived, and a short, chipper woman with bright pink hair hurried over to meet them. “Good morning!” she beamed, extending a delicate hand with pastel green fingernails to Annabeth, then to Percy. “It’s so good to finally meet you two. My name is Lavinia— I’ll be directing the shoot today.”

Lavinia was a ball of unkempt energy, hurrying around and introducing each of the crew members quickly as she led them down the hall toward the changing rooms. Percy shot Annabeth a look as they walked and she knew instantly that they were thinking the same thing: the editorial team had clearly searched for someone that was a stark contrast to the reporter they’d met with. Chloe, Annabeth thought, probably hadn’t been this energized — not to mention, polite — a day in her life.

“Let’s go ahead and have you both get changed,” she said thoughtfully, looking over the clipboard that seemed to be glued to her hand. “When you’re finished, head back out here and we’ll go over next steps.” One of the assistants handed a black, waffle-weave robe to each of them as they set off to change into their uniforms.

It was a little bit strange to be suiting up without Piper around. Their matching uniforms were deep navy blue with red trim and white lettering and since they were only ever worn during competitions, Annabeth felt sort of out of place to be missing her partner. She pulled on the top (which was, in all reality, basically just an extremely supportive sports bra) and twisted her hair into a braid that fell over her shoulder. It was much more loose than the tight, straight-back style she typically wore for competitions, but the side-braid allowed her to show off the ‘CHASE’ emblazoned on the blue fabric between her shoulders.

The bottom half of her uniform consisted of a tighter-than-skin-tight swath of spandex that could just barely be classified as a pair of shorts. Considering beach volleyball was almost universally played barefoot, the whole ensemble consisted of what was technically nothing more than fancy, expensive underwear. (She and Piper sometimes joked about how they could fit their entire uniform into a quart size Ziploc bag with plenty of room to spare.)

She paused in the mirror, doing a three-sixty turn to examine herself as best as she could, and she couldn’t help the small frown that came to her lips. Annabeth was usually anything but insecure about her body, but even knowing damn well that she was in the best shape of her life, she had always had a little of what Piper playfully referred to as baby weight.  

Annabeth had been athletic even before she’d found her way onto a volleyball court— between neighborhood pickup games and four years of jujitsu, she was more than ready when the volleyball coach had asked her to try out for the school team. She was still fit — no one would argue that — but as she’d gotten older, her body had changed. Her thighs had filled in more and her stomach wasn’t the flat, rigid plane that was so nearly universal among beach volleyball players.

It wasn’t something she gave much thought to on most days. She felt confident that, in her day-to-day life, her body alone would’ve put her pretty close to a ten. But in a sport that was dominated by lean, made-of-muscle women with approximately two-percent body fat, she felt a little hesitant every time she put on her uniform. Even Piper, who was every bit as much of a comeback story as Annabeth was, had worked her way into pristine physique with her long brown limbs of solid muscle and abs so defined you could practically count them from across the room.

Normally, it didn’t bother her too much. Annabeth knew what she was capable of, and even if she didn’t look exactly like every other girl on the roster, she knew she was just as talented. Piper had never been malicious in her teasing— quite the opposite, really. She usually commented on how unfair it was that Annabeth could be in just as good of shape as she was and still maintain some semblance of curves. And when she thought about it like that, it was kind of hard to see her differences as a bad thing. 

But Piper wasn’t there that morning, and the reassuring comments that usually met Annabeth’s ears whenever she began to worry that she didn’t look like an Olympic-level athlete weren’t there either. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done about any of it, so she reached for the black robe that had been given to her earlier and slipped her arms into the sleeves. She knotted the sash around her waist and stepped into the slide sandals she kept in her bag before tossing her things into her locker and walking back out into the gym. 

Percy was already there, hands shoved down into the pockets of his matching robe as he made polite conversation with the crew. Annabeth smiled as she came to a stop beside Lavinia. “What’s next?”

“I was just telling Mr. Jackson,” the photographer said gesturing toward Percy, “that we’re going to start with individual shots and save the photos with both of you for last. Whoever would like to go first is fine with us.”

Annabeth’s eyes shot to Percy finally, then back to the photographer. “Both of us? Together?” she asked. “Why?”

“Well, we’ll want to be sure we get a good photo of the two of you together to go with the cover story, of course,” Lavinia answered slowly and carefully, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. And maybe it was— probably she should have expected that, too. Probably, she reminded herself for the thousandth time, she should have thought about all of this a whole lot more before she’d agreed. 

“Oh.”

“Is there a problem?” Lavinia asked. 

“No, I just—” Annabeth shook her head quickly, “it’s nothing. Never mind. Percy should go first, though, so he’ll be dry by the time we do our shoot together. Right?”

Lavinia gave Annabeth an odd look before she finally turned to her assistant and they agreed that they should start with the water shots. She gave instructions to her team and everyone set into motion, carting equipment down the hallway toward the pool. Percy hung back, turning his attention toward her once the crew had moved further away.

“What was that about?” Percy asked, his voice low and brow furrowed. 

“I just didn’t think about the fact that they’d need pictures of us, you know,” Annabeth gestured between herself and Percy before her arms crossed defensively over that softer-than-it-should-be stomach she'd been thinking about just a few minutes before, “together.”

Percy looked somehow even more confused by her answer. “What do you mean? Of course they would,” he shook his head. “The whole reason we’re doing this is because our ‘relationship’ is supposed to be good press for the school, right?” 

He had a point, but that didn’t mean she wanted to concede it. “I mean, I guess that makes sense.” 

There was a long pause, silence falling as the door slammed behind the last of the crew that were exiting the main gym. Percy seemed to study her face for a long while and she had to fight not to squirm under his stare. “Annabeth, what’s this really about?”

“I just didn’t think about us being in pictures together,” she frowned. She didn’t really want to have this conversation. “And honestly, until we got that email last night, I don’t think I really thought about the fact that we’d have to do this in our uniforms.”

“What’s wrong with that?” he asked, his confusion still evident though he didn’t seem bothered. 

“These pictures are going to be online,” Annabeth said, trying to think up the least embarrassing way to phrase her fears. “It would be one thing to just have pictures of myself out there, but the ones of us together… they’re going to make it onto those stupid swimming boards again. And all of those people that had so much to say about me and how I look and—”

“Annabeth, no,” Percy interrupted. He let his head fall back in exasperation for only a moment before he looked at her again, a frown tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Come on— I thought we’d agreed not to pay attention to any of that.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” she fired back, a bit more harshly than she should’ve. “You’re not the one that they were making fun of.”

His mouth snapped closed, holding back whatever rebuttal he’d had loaded. After only a moment, Percy reached forward and took her hand. “If you don’t want to do this, we can leave. I’ll tell them it’s my decision.”

“What about Brunner?”

“Fuck Brunner.”

Annabeth didn’t want to admit it, but his offer was enticing. Now that school was out for summer, she could go back to working two jobs without it being as big of a burden. She dreamed of a scenario where she could waltz into Dr. Brunner’s office and rip that contract into a thousand tiny pieces and not have to worry about any of this anymore. 

But that would also mean the end of this, she thought as his thumb grazed the back of her hand gently, setting fire to the soft skin as he did. She wanted to believe that he wouldn’t vanish into thin air if they ended this agreement with the school, but she wasn’t so sure. And maybe it made her crazy, but she was beginning to think that all of the bad that came with this deal was worth it for the time that she got to spend with Percy. 

“No, it’s fine,” she said finally. “Let’s do it.”

He made no attempt at moving, green eyes scanning her face again. “Are you sure?” Percy asked. “I don’t want you to do this if it’s going to make you uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine,” Annabeth repeated, hoping that if she said it enough times, maybe she’d begin to believe it. “I’m probably just overthinking everything.”

“Okay,” he said gently. When he turned toward the doors the crew had walked through a few minutes prior, he gripped her hand reassuringly as he tugged her along after him. “But if you change your mind, tell me. I’ll shut it down.”

There wasn’t a glimmer of doubt in her mind: Percy meant it. 

That alone was comforting enough that Annabeth managed to give him a small smile as they walked down the hallway and pushed through the double doors that led to the pool. The scent of chlorine hit her firmly in the chest and she had to blink a few times at the way the chemical-thickened air stung her eyes. Percy, on the other hand, seemed to take a deep breath, and all at once, he relaxed. 

It wasn’t too surprising, she supposed, that he was seemingly bolstered just by being near the pool. What was surprising was that they’d been at this for more than two months and she’d still never seen him swim. From the moment they crossed the threshold and began to walk toward the edge of the pool, Percy was at ease. He was so obviously in his element, a confident aura in every step that she’d never seen before. 

As they approached the crew, Percy reached the hand that wasn’t holding hers into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a shimmery piece of silicone. “I brought a cap but I wasn’t sure if I—”

“Up to you,” Lavinia said, not looking up from her clipboard at first. She lifted her eyes eventually, giving him a once over. “You can wear it if you want, but you don’t have to. It’s not like you’re really racing today or anything, right?” Before Percy could respond, Lavinia had pulled her pen to her mouth, chewing on the end as she looked over the notes in front of her. 

“What do you think, Beth?” he asked, squeezing her hand gently. 

She didn’t need to look around to know that they were being watched, and maybe that was what gave her the courage she needed to reach out her free hand and run her fingers gently along the side of his head, dark curls dancing around the touch. “No cap,” Annabeth said with certainty and a degree of confidence that surprised her. It would make more sense for him to wear his swim cap, of course, but he’d asked for her opinion— and in her opinion, she just couldn’t let him cover those curls. “I like your hair too much to see it hidden.”

“Great,” Lavinia said. She glanced around to make sure her crew was ready and Annabeth noticed one of the men sitting on the edge of the pool fiddling with the settings on a camera that had been set into a hard, waterproof shell. “Whenever you’re ready, you can go ahead and get in the water.”

Percy smirked in a way that made her wonder if she’d said too much, but he slid the cap back into his pocket anyway. A second later, he dropped her hand and began to loosen the knot in the belt of his robe. 

For several weeks after, Annabeth would think back on this moment and wish that she’d used just an ounce of foresight to consider a bit of exposure therapy. 

She should have Googled photos from the Rio games, or even just taken five minutes to pull up pictures from a recent meet on the school’s Athletics page— anything that might have helped her prepare for what Percy Jackson hid beneath those loose-fitting hoodies and jackets that he wore most of the time. Maybe then she could have stopped her jaw from hitting the tile floor when he handed his robe to the photographer’s assistant.

In hindsight, she should have been expecting as much— she knew exactly how often he worked out and how hard he trained. She’d seen him in more fitting clothes before, of course: those button downs with the sleeves just snug enough to hint at what hid beneath the fabric, jeans and khakis that looked like they’d been tailor-made for him (and very well might have been, for all she knew). But the sight that met her eyes then was nothing short of breath-taking (literally— Annabeth very nearly forgot to breathe). 

He was the epitome of what one might expect an Olympian to look like. The shoulders that she’d always known where broad and strong seemed even more pronounced now, clearly defined muscles flexing under smooth olive skin as he moved toward the pool. Annabeth very intentionally refrained from letting her eyes drift any lower than his chest. She’d managed to keep a neutral expression that concealed her ogling up to that point, but she wasn’t confident that she could keep it up if she let herself acknowledge the skin tight jammer shorts that hugged his equally toned hips and thighs.

Once the initial shock of his appearance had settled, she finally noticed the black lines that adorned his olive skin. It had never once occurred to her that Percy may have tattoos, but now she saw two of them: on his right arm, a thin band in the design of a Greek meander circled his bicep and on his left, waves. The delicate lines started at his shoulder and flowed all the way down his upper arm, coming to a stop just above his elbow. 

Her eyes followed the wave design back up his arm and came to focus on his face, noticing finally that he was watching her watch him. Annabeth flushed and looked back toward the water as Percy hopped into the pool. She settled onto the bench that ran along the length of the pool, close enough to observe but far enough to stay out of the way. 

It was faster than she expected. There were two photographers, one in the water and one on the side of the pool. Lavinia and her assistant called out instructions that Percy seemed to take naturally, and Annabeth wondered for a moment if he’d done many photoshoots before. It wouldn’t surprise her, but it wasn’t something that she’d ever really thought about. Seeing how effortless it seemed to be for him to be in front of the camera made Annabeth even more nervous about her own turn. 

While she was busy thinking about that, the remainder of Percy’s time in the spotlight came to an end. “Alright,” Lavinia called out, “let’s get the cameras dried off and pack these lights. We’ll meet on the sand courts in ten. Annabeth, there’s towels over there if you could—”

Lavinia’s sentence ended abruptly as she tapped the wireless headset in her ear and began speaking into the microphone, but Annabeth got the point. She rose to her feet, walking to the stack of towels at the other end of the bench and grabbing one. As she crossed back toward the pool, one of the assistants returned Percy’s robe to her.

Percy lifted himself onto the edge of the pool effortlessly, shaking his head a few times to get rid of some of the water that was weighing down his curls. The spray hit her shins as she approached, dropping the towel onto his head once she was close enough. 

“Thanks,” he said in response, voice slightly muffled beneath the towel. He dried off his face before looking up to her. “Having fun?“

“Loads,” she nodded. “Need a hand?”

“Nah,” Percy shook his head, getting to his feet easily. He toweled off his arms and chest and Annabeth allowed herself another gratuitous glance at the tattoos she’d never seen until that day. 

“I never would have pegged you as the tattoo type,” she said after a moment, reaching out to run a finger over the Greek key circling his bicep. “No Olympic rings?”

“Not yet. I was only seventeen last time,” he explained, “and there’s no way my mom was gonna give me her permission.”

“Well, you could have gotten it later, right?” Annabeth asked, holding out the robe in one hand and taking the towel from him with the other. “Like, once you got back to the States— you could’ve just gotten it done once you were old enough. It was only a couple of weeks anyway.”

“Yeah, but it wouldn’t have been the same,” Percy shrugged as he slipped his arms back into the robe. He left it hanging open as he nodded in the direction of the doors and then began to walk. She felt his elbow nudge her gently and she looked over in response. “We can go together to get them this year.”

“You seem really sure we’re both going to get to go,” she said wistfully as she dropped the damp towel into the bin beside the doors and they stepped out into the hallway. 

“I am,” he nodded. “Moreso about you than me.”

Annabeth’s head whipped to the side. “You’re joking, right?”

“Not even a little bit,” Percy shook his head. “I mean, you and Piper have all of this time to work on buffing your stats and climbing the ranks. You get to have some kind of idea of your odds— for me, it pretty much all comes down to Omaha. If I have a bad day or get sick, it’s over.”

The sound of their steps echoed up the empty hallway as Annabeth mulled that over. She hadn’t really thought about it like that, how all of the work that he’d put in could be for nothing. “Are you nervous?”

“Hell yeah,” he laughed, running a hand through his hair as they walked out into the gym and continued on toward the changing rooms. “I think I’d be stupid not to be, don’t you?”

“I guess so,” she muttered as they reached the door and she leaned against the wall. “You brought the shirt I told you to bring, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Percy rolled his eyes playfully as he keyed in his passcode for the locker room. “You don’t have to wait for me; you should probably head on back to the court anyway. I’ll meet you over there when I’m done changing.”

“Oh,” Annabeth said, pushing off of the wall as he pulled open the door. “Yeah, alright. I’ll see you in a bit.”

The locker room door had barely closed when she heard the main gym door creak open. “Chase!”

Annabeth turned around to face the owner of the familiar voice. “Hey, Coach,” she waved. “Right on time.”

“Can’t believe you talked me into this,” he grumbled adjusting his baseball cap as he walked up beside her. “When the gym’s closed, I’m supposed to be off. You’re telling me there’s not one cupcake in this building that can toss you a damned ball?”

“Apparently not,” Annabeth laughed as they walked down a different hallway than before and almost immediately arrived at the indoor sand court. “This shouldn’t take too long, though. They finished up with Percy in about twenty minutes.”

“Yeah?” Hedge asked, craning his neck to look at Annabeth. “Well, good. I have things to do.” Annabeth smiled to herself, noticing the camera crew that was currently filing through the other entrance. 

“Annabeth!” Lavinia called from the other side of the court. “Can I get you and your coach over here for a moment please?” When they’d crossed the sand and reached the team, Lavinia tucked her clipboard under her arm and took the tablet that her assistant was holding. “So, we did a little searching and found some other shots that we’d like to try to imitate.”

“Okay,” Annabeth nodded, a lilt of nervousness seeping into her tone no matter how she tried to swallow it down. “I can try.” 

Lavinia turned the tablet around to show her the image on the screen. Annabeth frowned just the smallest bit but tried to wipe it away before it was noticed. It wasn’t that she doubted she could dig the ball, but she hadn’t really considered the fact that she’d have to try and look reasonably photogenic while she did so. The photos Lavinia was flipping through were a tribute to athleticism and it was difficult for Annabeth to imagine herself looking as graceful in her attempts.

“I’m Lavinia, by the way,” she said, jutting a hand out toward Coach Hedge. “Thank you for coming down to help us out today. We just thought that it would make Annabeth a bit more comfortable, and we always have better luck with these things when our models are in their element.”

“Model, eh?” Hedge chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk. “How about that.” 

“So, you basically just want Coach to toss a few balls and I’ll play like I normally would?” Annabeth asked, ignoring Hedge’s gentle ribbing. “That’s it?”

“We’ll start there, yes,” she nodded as the lightboxes flickered on and illuminated the sand. One of the photographers stepped out onto the court and began taking a few practice shots and adjusting their camera settings as needed. Lavinia turned the tablet around again. “This is from one of the pieces we ran a couple of years ago; we’d love to do something sort of like this.”

On the screen, a player that Annabeth recognized from the Rio team four years ago was completely suspended in midair, her long arms stretching out in front of her. The look on her face was determined but soft, as demure as she was powerful. “I’ll… I mean, I’ll try.”

“That’s all we can ask for,” Lavinia smiled. “Why don’t you go ahead and get ready— Danika will be ready to begin in just a few minutes.”

The photographer on the sand (whose name was Danika, apparently) looked up with a smile. “Just a couple more test shots and we’ll be good to go,” she said with a small wave before she turned back to the court and dictated adjustments to the light crew. 

Hedge stepped toward the closet to retrieve a few volleyballs as Annabeth slipped the robe off of her shoulders, silently thankful that Percy wasn’t around. A part of her felt immediately guilty at that thought, remembering how shamelessly she’d stared at him when it was his turn to be in front of the camera— and how she’d have burrowed herself into the sand if he’d done the same to her. 

“All set, Annabeth,” Danika called out. She gestured to a spot in the sand. “If you can, try to stay in this general area. You can move a couple of feet in any direction, just try to stay close to center so the lighting is right.”

Annabeth nodded as she stepped up into formation. She pulled her right arm across her chest and held it for a few seconds before doing the same with her opposite arm, stretching just enough to make sure she didn’t go into the session completely cold. As Hedge returned, Danika gave him a handful of notes and then they were ready. 

“Just like a normal practice, Annabeth,” Lavinia said sweetly from the side of the court, and Annabeth could tell that she could obviously sense how nervous she was. She took a deep breath before she gave Lavinia a nod and prepared for the first hit. 

Hedge tossed the ball over the net and Annabeth dove for it, keeping those images that she’d been shown in mind. She tried to be mindful of her limbs and her facial expression as she went for the ball and landed flat on her stomach in the sand. There was a small hiss from one of the crew members but Annabeth was more than used to the way it felt to fall, brushing herself off as she got to her feet. 

“Just like that,” Danika called out. “Just keep tossing the balls over and Annabeth will keep doing her thing.”

For the next ten or fifteen minutes, Annabeth chased the volleyballs across the sand, diving and sliding and dipping as needed. After a few volleys, she’d very nearly forgotten about everyone else in the room and was so keenly clued in to Coach Hedge that it might as well have been an extra practice session. The inside of her forearms were just beginning to pinken when Lavinia called out from behind the monitor she was using to preview the raw images. 

“I think we’re good,” she said, just as Annabeth slid down into the sand again. “Annabeth, you were perfect— I can’t wait for you to see these. Actually, come look at this one.”

Annabeth pulled herself up, sliding her hands down her arms to rid herself of as much sand as she could as she rose. She turned toward Lavinia and Danika, surprised to see Percy, who had apparently come out of the locker room at some point during her shoot, standing beside them. The robe he’d been wearing had been exchanged for jeans and a purple t-shirt with the University’s emblem on the front. It was, she realized suddenly with a pang of surprise, the first time she’d ever seen him in a shirt that didn’t have long sleeves and the bottom bit of his tattoo peeked out beneath the hem of the fabric.

The discovery of Percy’s tattoos was a strange sort of reminder of how much she still didn’t know about him, and that thought didn’t bring her much joy. However, when she pulled her eyes away from the toned arms crossed over the University emblem and met his gaze at last, joy was the only thing that she felt. 

He shot her a bright smile, the same one that she’d seen that first night in Medea’s when she’d teased him for his eating habits. It was a comfortable smile, one that spoke volumes without a single word. 

As she stepped across the sand, Annabeth felt one of the assistants drape her robe over her shoulders and she remembered what she was wearing (or rather, not wearing) for the first time. Her cheeks flushed as she came to a stop between Lavinia and Percy, feeling his hand settled on her lower back automatically. 

“This is my favorite, just at a preliminary glance,” Lavinia said, pointing at the preview screen. Danika nodded in agreement as she turned the monitor so that she and Percy could see the image.

On screen, Annabeth was diving to receive a volley, her legs straight out behind her with the lines of her quads and hamstrings refracting the light in a way that perfectly accentuated the defined muscles. Her face was fierce, intently focused without being too stony, and her long arms stretched out, elbows just barely beginning to graze the sand. 

She looked… good.

Good wasn’t really the word for it but it was all she could manage. She found herself feeling somewhat mesmerized by the way that the image captured her so wholly in her element. If she’d seen a photo like this of anyone besides herself, she would’ve been in awe of the athleticism and prowess that was captured in a single frame, maybe even a little intimidated by the severe but entrancing look in her eyes.

Honestly, Annabeth was speechless. She’d been so concerned about how bad the photos were going to be that she hadn’t even considered the team might actually manage to get a few good ones. But the longer she stared at the picture, the more uneasy she felt. The source of her discomfort slowly became obvious as one nagging thought rose to the surface: a voice, an old memory that flooded her mind with the scent of printer ink and Absorbine.

You’re so strong, Annie. Your legs and your arms…

She swallowed, nausea rising in her throat at the memory of that final night in the back office of the Castellans’ gym. Broaching the subject with Percy had been the right thing to do and she didn’t have any doubts about that— but it had been years since she’d allowed herself to recall the extent of what had happened, and sifting through the fragmented details stung.

Heartbeat increasing by the millisecond, Annabeth could feel the panic seizing her slowly, uprooting her from what should have been an incredible moment. She was beginning to let the faint wave of horror sink in when she felt the person at her side begin to move.

As if he’d sensed her nervousness, Percy slid into the spot behind her, wrapping both of his arms around her torso. Strong limbs anchored her back in the present and she let him hold her even as she felt him shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re amazing,” he said quietly, just loud enough for her to hear. His hair was damp, cool against her cheek as he rested his chin on the top of her shoulder. “Absolutely amazing.”

Just like that, everything felt okay again. Annabeth still had the bitter taste of the recollection on her tongue, but the echo of the words Luke had used to try and coerce her into bending to his whims was growing fainter and fainter as Percy’s embrace tightened and her hands reached up to rest on his forearms. Probably the way that his show of quiet intimacy had managed to calm her so easily should have scared her, but in that moment, she couldn’t find it in herself to care. 

“Anyway,” Danika said with a wave of her hand, clearly not having noticed the deeper sentiment behind the exchange, “we’ll go through them all later but we definitely got plenty of great shots to work with.”

“Annabeth, we’re going to send Drew in to help you get ready for the last set if that’s alright,” Lavinia said, waving over a stoic looking woman with a makeup case in hand. Annabeth had done her own makeup that morning, as she’d been instructed to do in the details that they’d been given before the shoot, and her confusion must have shown. “Just to polish you up a bit, nothing too crazy,” Lavinia quickly added.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Annabeth nodded after a second. She wasn’t enraptured by the idea of having to step free of Percy’s arms, but her uneasiness had been soothed for the time being. “Where do we need to meet?”

“We’re going to try to set up in the courtyard out by the tennis courts as long as the light will work with us,” she answered. “If that doesn’t happen, I’ll send someone to let you know.”

“See you in a bit,” Percy said softly, squeezing her gently one last time before he loosened his arms and took a step back. He turned his attention toward the camera crew, immediately offering his assistance in transporting the gear to their new location.

The crew had already broken down the lightboxes and begun to pack the monitor and other gear into their cases, an act they were obviously adept at doing often and quickly. By the time Annabeth and Drew, the makeup artist, had reached the door to the hallway, the set was nearly entirely packed up. 

Back in the locker room, Annabeth changed quickly into a pair of dark denim shorts and a white Eagles t-shirt with purple and gold lettering. Both of the shirts that she and Percy had brought for the shoot had been given to them by Dr. Brunner, so she had to hope that they’d be winning a few extra brownie points for their dedication. It felt a little bit on the nose, but so did everything else.

Drew tsked quietly as she ran a brush through Annabeth’s hair and set a few large rollers. She wasn’t especially talkative, swiping a hint of blush across Annabeth’s cheeks and touching up her mascara before she decided that it was enough. When she pulled the rollers from her hair, letting soft curls frame her face, Drew actually smiled. “Much better.”

Annabeth tried not to be offended as she pulled on white canvas sneakers and thanked the girl for her help. She threw her uniform and the rest of her things into her duffle bag and pulled it onto her shoulder. “The door will lock behind you,” she said as she began to walk toward the exit, “so you can just head out whenever you’re ready.” 

Drew nodded and waved her off as she carefully placed all of the brushes and miscellaneous accouterments back into her kit and Annabeth floated out to the courtyard on a cloud of relief. 

The courtyard was at the end of the main hallway that ran through the center of the complex, a reasonably large area that she’d rarely seen utilized outside of an occasional impromptu yoga session. She herself had never spent much time in the space, but she could see why the team had decided it would make for good photos. There was a nice water feature that added to the ambience by cutting out most of the highway noise and other less-than-peaceful sounds, and the lawn was covered in perfectly manicured grass and landscaping.

Annabeth hopped down the stairs at the end of the sidewalk, glancing up at the overcast sky. It was a good day for taking photos outdoors, she thought, which must have been a nice stroke of good luck for the crew. Lavinia and Danika were standing side by side, looking at something on the clipboard again as they directed the crew in their setup. 

When she reached the group of people gathered beneath the shade of a tall buckeye tree, she noticed that she hadn’t been the only one pulled in for a mini-makeover. What had been a damp mess of untamed curls when she’d slipped out to change had been carefully coerced into a style that suited Percy quite well. 

“There she is,” he beamed, taking her hand and pulling her in to join the huddle. “Perfect timing.”

“Sure is,” Lavinia grinned. “We’re ready to start.” 

“Perfect,” Annabeth managed, trying to calm her nerves. 

She’d been through just about every emotion possible already that morning, and the way that Percy rested his hand so naturally on her hip wasn’t helping her sort through any of them. Anger had been her first reaction — or maybe it had been annoyance — when she’d first picked Percy up from his apartment and quickly realized that he intended to act like nothing had been off between them. Nervousness set in soon after, both with the realization that they’d have to be in photos together (she still couldn’t believe that she’d ever thought otherwise) and then again when she thought about her own qualms with her appearance. 

Elation, or something close to it, had accompanied her relief when she’d seen the preview of the images from her shoot, replaced quickly by the anxiety that the abrupt memory had brought on. And now, standing in the courtyard with Percy’s arms around her for what must have been the tenth time that day, she felt strangely comforted. As they listened to Lavinia’s instructions, she wondered if Percy had any idea how steadying his presence had been in that moment in the gym, or if he had even a notion of how grateful she was for that small gesture of kindness. 

It was awkward at first. The poses that Lavinia put them into felt stiff and forced and they were edging a little too close to cheesy for Annabeth’s tastes. The only images that she’d ever seen of people positioned in this way were usually accompanying engagement announcements or Save-the-Dates, and it all felt entirely too intimate of a thing to be sharing with Percy. He seemed to be struggling as well, and with their discomfort apparent, the shoot quickly came to a halt. 

Lavinia walked over, pulling her headset off as she did. At first, Annabeth was afraid that she was going to be upset. She thought about how much instruction she’d needed earlier in the gym and how they’d had to give virtually no notes to Percy throughout the duration of his shoot. Maybe she was the reason this was all going so poorly. 

“Talk to me,” she said simply, her eyes soft. “What can we do to put you guys at ease?”

Annabeth looked to Percy, surprised by the invitation for their input. “I—” she stammered, simultaneously trying to think of some sort of explanation for the awkwardness and racking her brain for any suggestion that she could contribute. 

“I think we’re just both a little nervous,” Percy supplied, his tone far more even and controlled than Annabeth could have managed in that moment. “Just between us, there've been some kind of weird remarks about me and Beth as a couple that have circled online for a while, and I think it’s just got us a little on edge.”

Lavinia just nodded like she’d assumed as much. “Well, typically when we’ve got a cold set, the best thing to do is warm it up,” she shrugged, as if that answer should have alleviated all of their concerns. A moment later, Lavinia realized her implication hadn’t landed, shaking her bright pink hair as she laughed. “Care to humor me with a little icebreaker exercise?”

This time, when Annabeth looked over at Percy, he was already looking back. He didn’t seem to be at all bothered by the idea, so they both shrugged. “Okay, sure,” Annabeth nodded. “What did you have in mind?”

“One thing we’ve found that works well with couples that are a little stiff in front of the camera is to just get you guys comfortable with each other,” she explained. “You’re not being yourselves in all of these poses, and that’s not what we want. So here’s what we’re gonna do instead—”

Her thought hung unfinished in the open air of the breezy courtyard as Lavinia glanced at their surroundings. Eventually, she pointed toward a clearing of grass at the edge of a splay of bright, golden poppies. “There,” Lavinia said definitely as she waved them over. The crew didn’t follow immediately, apparently used to whatever tactic their director was deploying at the moment. 

“Now, this is going to sound silly, but bear with me,” she laughed, taking Percy by the shoulders and situating him into a position she deemed acceptable. She did the same thing to Annabeth, placing her directly in front of Percy as she continued. “Forget we’re here. I want you to just focus on each other. For, let’s say, seven seconds — and I’m going to time it — I just want you to kiss.”

Someone on the other side of the country would have been able to sense how widely Annabeth’s eyes popped open the moment the word kiss fell from Lavinia’s lips. Percy’s jaw tensed, his own expression hard and unreadable.

“I know it’s a bit awkward,” Lavinia laughed warmly, clearly mistaking their reaction for surprise rather than alarm, “but I promise that it always works. Just take these few seconds and let yourselves be natural; shake off the tension. Be ridiculous if it helps you loosen up. Ready?”

There was a distinct feeling in Annabeth’s mind that was something akin to a loading screen being frozen at sixty-four percent. She was hearing the words and the explanation and the instructions but her brain had no idea what to do with them. Percy turned his head toward her. “I guess I’m, uh,” he muttered, “I’m ready if you are.”

Was he actually going along with this? That stupid Kiss Cam at the baseball game a couple of weeks before had been awkward enough, and the aftermath had been anything but comfortable. If Lavinia thought that they were stiff now—

“Beth?” Percy asked, trying to force a reassuring smile. Feeling the weight of everyone’s expectation, of the eyes that were certainly still on them and the lingering hyper-awareness of how absurd this entire ordeal had been, Annabeth exhaled shakily and nodded. 

“Alright,” Lavinia smiled. “It’s weird at first, but I promise you’ll feel better after. I’ll start the timer when you’re ready.” She turned back toward the crew, making it clear that she had no intention of lingering beside them, but the distance did little to alleviate the apprehension that bloomed so tangibly between Annabeth and Percy. 

“Seven seconds,” Percy said, letting a smile play on his lips. “That’s nothing.”

Annabeth couldn’t help the amused laugh that his comment pulled from her; it was a power that choice few possessed but it had never been a problem for Percy. Only vaguely aware of the short nod she gave him, her senses were flooded by the sudden closeness as he cupped her face, long fingers resting on the back of her neck with a gentle but firm touch, his thumb still brushing her cheek as he pulled her face up to his. 

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 71

With the final FIVB tournament of the season less than a week away, Annabeth should have been focusing on polishing up her skills and getting ready for what was effectively the most important weekend of her entire athletic career up to that point. She should have been worrying about the outcome, knowing that if she and Piper didn’t perform their absolute best in Salt Lake City, their hopes of making it to the Olympics were completely lost.

Even Percy had begun to add an extra hour of workouts to his routine. National Qualifiers were still several weeks away, but it was obvious that he wasn’t slacking off in the meantime. She should have been doing the same.

Instead of using this time to get her head in the game, she’d spent the better part of the previous three days attempting to mentally prepare herself for the very thing that they were currently charging headfirst toward: the dreaded dinner with her parents.

“Do I have something in my teeth?” Percy asked, craning his neck slightly to check his reflection in the rearview mirror before he looked back at the road. “What are you staring at?”

“It’s not too late to bail,” she offered, crossing her arms over the light blue sweater she’d chosen for the evening as she ignored his question and shifted her eyes back out over the hood of the car. “I can tell them that I got sick or something.”

“Annabeth,” Percy laughed, flipping the turn signal as he steered her car toward the off-ramp, “I’m not nervous about this.”

At that, she could only bite her lip. Maybe he wasn’t nervous, but she certainly was. Frederick and Helen Chase were unpredictable and tough to tolerate under even the best of circumstances— and this, a meeting set under duress, was a far cry from the best of circumstances. 

“Should I be?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow as he glanced to the passenger side of the Corolla where Annabeth was currently slouching in her seat with a sour expression. 

“Yes,” Annabeth answered automatically. She sighed, trying to think of a way to explain the conflicting feelings that were swarming in her chest. “My father— he’s not— I don’t know. He’s nice enough on the outside, I guess, but he’s not really what I’d call a good person.”

“Is there a difference?”

“Between good and nice?” she asked, and once he’d shrugged and nodded to confirm that she’d inferred the proper meaning from his question, she sighed again. “Yeah, a big one. My father is nice: he’s polite to strangers, he’s a decent tipper, he’s friendly to people in grocery stores and always buys things from the kids in our neighborhood when they bring those fundraiser books around,” Annabeth said, exasperated. “But he’s not a good person. Everything he does, Percy, it’s all just to make himself feel better.

“He’s on the board with the HOA in our neighborhood, despite thinking it’s ridiculous, because he thinks that it looks good to be involved. He married my stepmother mostly because he thought that the single-dad thing gave him a bad reputation and said it would look better to have a woman in the house after my mom left,” she continued, shaking her head as Percy frowned in her direction. “He tells people how proud he is of me, just to turn around and berate me for every single shortcoming I’ve ever had.”

“Well, he must have a pretty short list,” he interjected, an attempt to make her feel better if she had to guess. “It’s not like you’re a degenerate or a screw-up or whatever.”

“Maybe,” Annabeth shrugged, “but I’m a disappointment to him anyway. I’m still just a quitter and a failure and—”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Percy interrupted. At first, she thought that he was interrupting her tirade because he was annoyed with her complaining and the idea that she’d overstepped some invisible boundary quickly brought a flush to her cheeks. But a moment later, his hands adjusted on the steering wheel, knuckles flexing like they’d been too tight a moment before. 

It was silent in the cab of the car for a minute, nothing but the sounds of the road and the barely audible music that played through the speakers. “What?” she asked after a while, daring to look over at him. 

“I don’t want you to put yourself in that kind of headspace,” he answered, his voice shockingly even. After a moment, he shook his head in frustration, his voice hardly above a murmur when he continued. “I hate it when you talk about yourself like that.”

“Like what?” 

As the car paused at a stoplight, Percy looked over, his face cast in a red tint. “Like he’s right,” he said with a seriousness that dared her to disagree. “Like you really are the trouble he thinks that you are. It’s bullshit and I hate that you even joke about it possibly being true.” 

Annabeth swallowed, feeling smaller than she had in a while as she sat still as a statue beneath his gaze. The shadows across Percy’s face switched to green and he looked ahead with a sigh and the car moved forward.

The seriousness might’ve come as a bigger surprise if the past few days hadn’t been so strange. After the photoshoot on Wednesday, Annabeth had been hesitant to reach out to Percy. They still hadn’t truly cleared the air about whatever had transpired at Thalia’s going away party, and neither of them had even acknowledged the kiss that they’d shared in the courtyard of the Aegis. 

Annabeth had thought that she was doomed after their brief, shy kiss at the baseball game a few weeks before, but now she was really feeling sunk. She still wasn’t sure if she was more surprised by the fact that he’d actually gone along with Lavinia’s hairbrained idea or by the fact that it had worked.  

For seven perfect seconds, Annabeth forgot that it wasn’t real. She could still remember the feeling of his fingers on the back of her neck as he held her face close, hesitant lips moving against her own. And then he’d pulled away, an amused glint in his eye, and she felt the sinking feeling creeping in almost instantly. Still, they did feel more at ease after that and the rest of the shoot went by easily and they were dismissed.

They didn’t talk about the kiss after that, and things were just getting more and more tense and convoluted as the days ticked by. 

Annabeth took a deep breath as they turned onto her father’s street. “It’s that one on the right,” she said softly, pointing toward the monument of half-timbering and steeply gabled roofs. 

Monterey Heights was a pleasant neighborhood and had always been a relatively idyllic setting for her less-than-idyllic childhood. The Chase household stuck out like a sore thumb: a two story tribute to Tudor Revival that was nestled in the midst of rows and rows of more modern, stucco-sided homes. It was a brooding structure constructed at the crest of a hill, looking down at the street below— a preliminary act of intimidation that guests were forced to submit to before they ever even stepped foot inside the house. 

“Wow,” Percy said as he pulled into the sloping driveway and shifted the car into park. He leaned forward to look out of the windshield, eyes wide as he took in the house that held some of Annabeth’s worst memories. “It’s… not what I expected. Must’ve been kind of cool to grow up in a place like this.”

“It was,” Annabeth sighed, staring at the darkened window above the garage that she’d climbed out of a thousand times, “definitely something.”

“Are you going to be okay in there?” he asked, pulling her attention away from the house. 

“It’ll be fine,” she shook her head. “Let’s just get this over with.” Percy nodded and they both climbed out of the car. “That one over there,” she said, pointing to a blue, mid-century modern inspired home a few houses down on the opposite side of the street, “that’s where Connor and Travis grew up. Their mom doesn’t live there anymore, but they were there until the summer after Connor and I graduated high school.”

“I don’t think I ever realized that you’d been neighbors,” Percy noted, glancing toward the house then back to the Tudor that they were now walking toward. “Bet your dad loved that.”

“Exactly as much as you’d expect. That one was my room,” she grinned, gesturing to the window she’d been staring at just a few moments before. “I used to sneak out onto the garage roof and climb down the trellis on the side of the house.”

“Was this before, during, or after you dated Connor?” he asked, shooting her a teasing smile. 

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “I’m not answering that.”

“Answering by avoidance is still an answer,” Percy laughed, resting a hand on the small of her back as they started up the front steps and when they reached the door, Annabeth rang the doorbell. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m glad you don’t have to climb down any trellises when you want to hang out with me.”

The joke was enough to bring a smile to her lips just as the door opened. 

“Annabeth,” Helen said sweetly (too sweetly) as she stepped out onto the small brick stoop. 

Helen was nice enough. She was kind and usually thoughtful, even if she did sometimes overstep. Annabeth had never really had any especially strong feelings about her stepmother to be entirely honest. Mostly she pitied her for being stuck with Frederick. Her father had a way of bringing out the worst in people.

Helen had twisted her reddish-brown hair into an intricate bun that showed off pearl earrings and matching necklace. Her baby pink sweater set reeked of the overpowering bergamot perfume that she’d worn for as long as Annabeth could remember and the scent only grew more obnoxious as she wrapped her arms around her stepdaughter. 

“We’re so glad that you decided to bring your friend.”

Even though she couldn’t really see past Helen’s embrace, Annabeth felt Percy tense at her side and knew immediately that her father had joined them. When she pulled herself free with a terse smile, she saw Frederick frowning in the doorway. 

“Well, let’s bring this inside, shall we?” he said in an attempt at sounding warm and inviting, though the tone didn’t quite land. “No point in standing on the street all night.” 

And with that, he turned and walked deeper into the house. Helen shot Percy an apologetic look that Annabeth could see straight through. “Forgive him,” she sighed. “He’s just a little nervous. Annabeth doesn’t bring her friends home very often.”

“He’s the one that wanted this dinner,” Annabeth fired back, not in the mood (then, or ever) for Helen’s fake niceties. The comment was enough to cause her stepmother’s Stepford smile to falter for just a moment as she ushered them inside.

“Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes,” Helen said, gesturing to the immaculately prepared dining room just off of the entryway, “you can go ahead and make yourselves comfortable if you’d like. Or if Annabeth would like to give you a tour—”

“We’ll sit,” Annabeth interrupted before Helen could continue, but when she tried to move past Percy, he slipped his arm around her waist gently.

“Come on, show me around, Diner Girl,” he teased. “I wanna see your old room.”

“Be a good host, Annabeth,” Helen chided, her tone playfully light even as she obviously considered the odd nickname Percy had just used. “I’ll call for you when we’re ready.” She gave them one last look over before she excused herself to check on their meal.

The moment Helen was beyond earshot, Annabeth turned to glower at him. “You’re dead to me.”

“Weird way to start a tour,” Percy smirked, clicking his tongue in disapproval as he pulled out his phone dramatically. “I’m going to be forced to leave a bad Yelp review.”

“I’m going to shove that phone so far—”

“Easy, easy,” he interrupted with a grin so broad she had a difficult time staying annoyed. Percy slid the phone back into the pocket of his jeans and nodded toward the stairs. “But I would like the tour if it’s still an option.”

Annabeth shook her head, not bothering with attempting to devise a clever comeback as she turned toward the hall and started up the stairs. At the top, the landing stretched out into an area that had been a sort of den when she’d lived there, but had since become a depository for stacks and stacks of her father’s books.

“There’s a TV back there, somewhere,” she said, pointing toward the wall. “This used to be where my friends and I would watch movies or whatever on the rare occasion that we hung out at my house. The books are new, I guess.”

They continued up the hall as Annabeth pointed out her father’s study (filled to the brim with models of airplanes and battleships and somehow even more books), a guest suite with a perfectly made bed, and a half-bath. The last door on the right — the only one that was closed — had been decorated with a wooden letter ‘A’ that had been spray-painted gold and hung from a long piece of white ribbon. She turned the doorknob carefully, flipping on the lightswitch. 

When her eyes adjusted to the light, four grey walls came into view. The left side of the room was pretty run-of-the-mill with only a plush queen-sized bed with a set of matching nightstands on either side. She couldn’t help but smile at the mahogany desk beneath the window that had aided in her escape attempts many times. 

She didn’t realize that she’d become frozen to the spot until Percy stepped around her. He glanced around the room and she wondered what it looked like through his eyes. The wall across from the bed held several long shelves that were filled with books, trophies, and framed photographs, and he took his time looking over each one. She noticed a smile pulling at his lips as he reached out and picked up one of the frames. 

“How old are you here?” he asked, using the side of his hand to rub some of the dust off of the glass before he tilted the frame toward her. She walked closer, looking at the image in his hands. A little girl with long blonde braids on either side of her head grinned back at her from the photograph, showing off a missing front tooth and the yellow belt that she’d been awarded that day.

“Nine or ten, probably,” Annabeth answered. “I did jiu jitsu for a few years and loved it, but this was toward the end.”

“If you loved it, why’d you quit?” he asked, giving her a surprised look. 

Annabeth smiled; a pained, grimacing sort of smirk. “Dad said it took up too much time on the weekends.”

Percy set the frame back on the shelf with a frown but said nothing. His brow furrowed as he looked over the next frame that held a photo of Annabeth at about sixteen years old, holding a trophy above her head outside of the Castellan Training Complex. The sign was plainly visible and it was obvious that they were both thinking the same thing at the reminder, but neither of them addressed it. The last photo on the shelf caught his eye and he grabbed it with a laugh. 

“Please tell me that’s—”

“Connor?” Annabeth finished for him, smiling. “Yeah, it is.”

Percy pulled out his phone again, taking a quick snap of the picture in the frame as he laughed. “What the hell is going on with his hair?”

“Okay, so,” she began, “first off, you have to understand how stupid Connor and Travis are.”

“I think I have a reasonable idea,” Percy nodded. “For Connor, anyway.”

“Well, Travis is worse,” Annabeth said, and even though she was laughing, she meant it from the bottom of her heart. “They used to get into these pissing matches that always ended with them just pulling the dumbest pranks on each other. This,” she said, pointing at the choppy mess on top of Connor’s head in the photo, “was what was left after their mom cut out all of the burned pieces.”

“Burned?” Percy gaped, clearly having not expected that explanation.

“Travis is a bit of a pyromaniac. I’ve tried to warn Katie but,” she shrugged, “to each their own.” 

“Okay, well, that answers that, I guess,” he laughed looking back at the picture. “At least you look good in this one. Prom?”

“Homecoming,” she corrected. “Junior year. I remember begging him to just cut his hair to one length. I would’ve been fine with him just shaving it all off, but he said he had to make a point to Travis.”

Percy laughed again as he set the frame back in its place. “Was the point that he has no shame?”

“Actually, yes,” she nodded, “believe it or not.”

“Oh, I believe it.” His eyes lingered on the image for a few more seconds as the humor faded from his eyes, replaced by a softer sort of admiration. “Blue is really your color.”

“What makes you say that?”

He gestured to the picture — herself and Connor on the front steps of the house, him in slacks and a white shirt and her in a knee length, royal blue dress with a wide silver belted sash and an embarrassing amount of ruffles — then to the sweater she was currently wearing. “You look good in blue.”

“Annabeth!” Helen called up the stairs. “Dinner!”

The sound was almost surreal, immediately launching her five years into the past. She felt the same way that she had when she was in high school, sprawled out doing homework or reading when her stepmother called her down for a meal. It was a strange feeling, but Percy’s presence helped to ground her.

Letting her eyes slip closed for just a moment, Annabeth took a deep breath. “Let’s get this over with,” she said as she opened her eyes again. “If we’re lucky, we’ll be out of here in an hour.”

“That seems optimistic,” Percy chuckled as he followed her out of the room. He paused to switch off the light and pull the door closed again before they made their way down the stairs. 

When they returned to the dining room, Frederick had already settled himself into the chair at the head of the table, a generous serving of scotch accompanying his glass goblet of iced tea. Helen was just entering with a platter of perfectly roasted Cornish hens as Annabeth took her seat at her father’s right and Percy settled into the spot beside her. 

“Well,” Frederick said, wasting no time in jumping into the conversation as he gestured for Annabeth to pass her plate. “Introduce me to your friend, Annabeth.”

Something about the continuing usage of the word friend rubbed her the wrong way. They were right, technically— but they didn’t know that, and the idea that they were intentionally diminishing the connection between herself and Percy had her digging her nails into her palm beneath the table. Still, she managed a convincingly neutral smile as she glanced to her right. “This is Percy,” she said lightly. “Percy Jackson. We go to school together. He’s the same year as me, and he’s a swimmer.”

“A swimmer,” Frederick noted, somehow making the word sound like an insult as he placed one of the hens onto the plate. He added a helping of steamed green beans and reached for the carrots before he continued. “What’s your major, son?”

Percy straightened a bit in his chair. “Biokinesiology,” he answered proudly, “with a sports therapy emphasis.” 

Frederick nodded as he handed Annabeth’s plate back to her and reached for Helen’s. “See, now that’s a good major, Annabeth,” he shook his head. “Useful. Especially if you’re intent on wasting so much time and money on this volleyball thing of yours— at least you could be working toward doing something valuable with your life.”

At her side, Percy bristled noticeably, obviously surprised by the reaction, but Annabeth simply smiled smugly. It was empty and mirthless, a sign of the vindicated feeling that was sweeping through her at the realization that the dread she’d felt leading up to this evening was completely justified. 

“Freddy, let’s try to keep it civil,” Helen urged, taking her plate from him when he’d finished serving her. Percy sensed the stare and handed his plate up without instruction. “Percy, what sort of swimming do you do?”

“I swim a lot of different events, but I like the shorter distances best,” he said, trying not to let the way Frederick had so aptly disarmed him show too plainly. “I do alright with longer races, but I think the shorter events let me show off a little more.”

“So you swim for the school team, I take it?” Frederick asked as he finished piling vegetables onto the plate in his hand. 

“That’s right,” Percy nodded.

“He also swims for the US team,” Annabeth added, surprised at his sudden shyness— though she knew that her father had that effect on people. “He won three medals in Rio.”

“Gold?” Frederick asked without looking up from his own plate.

“Um, no sir,” Percy shook his head, his cheeks flushing slightly at the all-too-transparent dressing down. “Two bronze and a silver.”

“That’s too bad,” he tsked, picking up his fork. Annabeth felt a pang of shock at her father’s bluntness, a feeling she thought she’d long since forgotten since she hadn’t been surprised by his harsh demeanor in years. “I assume you’ll be making another bid this summer.”

“I plan to,” Percy answered, his eyes narrowing slightly. 

His left leg began to bounce a bit and Annabeth had the distinct feeling of déjà vu— like they were right back in that conference room once again, this time with the roles reversed. She hesitated a moment before she rested her hand on his thigh lightly in reassurance. 

He looked over as his leg stilled, his hand covering hers as something sort of dangerous flashed in his eyes. When he looked back at Frederick, his jaw set in determination, all signs of nervousness had vanished. “Qualifiers are at the end of June, so I’ll know for sure then— but I’m really hoping that I’ll get to go to Athens and watch Beth bring home a medal of her own.”

“‘Beth’,” Frederick chuckled dryly. “Isn’t that cute.” 

Helen, sensing the growing tension, frowned. “Freddy—”

“I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you, Percy,” he shook his head with a sigh. “Annabeth is talented alright, but she’s never been one for sticking it out when things get tough.”

His words couldn’t have stung worse if he’d actually slapped her. Annabeth’s head whipped back toward her father. “Excuse me?”

“Well, we know your track record, don’t we?” he shrugged as if it were obvious. 

“I—”

“Dr. Chase,” Percy interrupted, “with all due respect, you don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.” His hand squeezed hers as if to say ‘I know what I’m doing’, but she couldn’t help but think he didn’t have any idea what he was getting himself into. He set his fork back onto the table, having barely even touched his plate anyway. “Have you ever even seen her play?”

“Well, of course I have,” he scoffed as if it were an absurd question. “Who do you think carted her all over the country for those godforsaken tournaments all those years?”

“You went to three tournaments, dad,” Annabeth said coldly, her voice gravelly with her disdain. “We play twelve tournaments a year, and in four years you went to three tournaments. I went alone to the rest.” 

Not alone, she thought to herself. Luke was there. But bringing that up wouldn’t do anyone any good and would only reopen a wound that she was trying desperately to heal.

“Oh, it was more than three,” Frederick rolled his eyes, bringing his scotch to his lips and taking a long sip. “You’re being dramatic, Annabeth— besides, it’s not like any of those games even mattered when it came down to it, now did they?”

Silence. Helen’s cheeks were bright red, staring at the wall above Annabeth’s head while she drained her wine glass and Frederick continued to cut into his chicken as if the conversation had not come to an abrupt and disastrously awkward halt. She felt Percy’s grip tighten on her hand in what she assumed was an effort to get her attention but her eyes were fixed on her father. 

“Embarrassed us all is what she did,” he muttered, shaking his head. Annabeth bit her cheek and tasted blood. She felt her throat closing, the urge to run creeping in as it always did whenever she was anywhere near this house.

As if sensing that Frederick had finally struck a nerve that had rendered Annabeth entirely incapable of reaction, Percy cleared his throat. He sat up a little taller, resting his right arm on the table in front of him and he leaned forward. “Look, I know this is a hell of a first impression, but I need to say something.”

Annabeth stared at her plate. She wished she could disappear and let whatever was about to happen go on without her. But Percy’s grip on her hand was steady and firm, an ever-present reminder that she wasn’t alone. The disappointment and anger roiled in her chest, but she tried to stay as calm as she could manage.

Percy kept going. “Dr. Chase, your daughter is one of the most hardworking people I’ve ever met, and I’ve trained with Olympic champions for a decade,” he said firmly, daring either of her parents to disagree. “She’s ridiculously stubborn but all it does is make her better— you don’t have a clue how dedicated she is.”

Annabeth felt Frederick stiffen in his seat, heard her stepmother’s empty wine glass being placed shakily onto the table. Her eyes were still on her plate, cheeks burning as Percy squeezed her hand again. 

“Up until very recently, she was working two jobs just to be able to make ends meet. She’s only working at the diner now, but she still wakes up before the crack of dawn to go in and she’s on her feet for hours on end. She’s worked a full shift before most people are even awake, and then she goes straight into training,” Percy continued, “where she works her ass off for three more hours. During the semester, she’d eat lunch in her car on her way to campus, then go back to work out for another hour or two after classes on most days. On the days she doesn’t have to work, she goes to Pilates. Four days a week, she runs when she gets home, no matter how late it is.”

He turned his head to the side, focusing his attention on Annabeth. “And somehow, she still manages to make time for me and for her friends, and keeps her grades up. She’s one of the top students in her program— did you know that?” The look on Frederick’s face said that he didn't care much one way or the other, but Percy didn’t let up. “Most days, she’s running on steam just trying to make everything work, all while taking care of everyone around her.” 

Percy ran his free hand through his hair in exasperation. “And I know that you can’t see any of that because you’ve decided to continually punish her for things that happened four years ago, but what Annabeth has is a gift. You should be proud of her for being brave enough to walk back out there in the face of all of the adversity that’s been thrown at her,” he said, his voice clearly pointing blame at the older couple at the table. 

She looked up finally, her tear-rimmed eyes meeting his. 

“You should be proud of her for going after what she wants and for taking care of herself the way that she does; for fighting for herself and for the future that she wants.” Percy paused, his eyes never leaving hers. “I know I am.”

Annabeth was only vaguely aware of her motions as she dropped her napkin and fork unceremoniously onto her untouched dinner plate and shoved away from the table. Her heart raced and ached with the ridiculously obvious but suddenly overwhelming revelation that Percy knew her so well, especially when her own parents so clearly did not.  

Her hand went automatically to cover her mouth as she rushed out the front door and down the steps just like she’d done so many times in adolescence, fleeing and running and putting as much distance between herself and her father as she could. 

Her feet carried her down the sloping lawn, urging her toward the Stolls old house in a sort of muscle memory that stung with bitter memories. She realized it as she reached the sidewalk, dropping down onto the curb with a sob. Annabeth hated crying but it was all that she wanted to do right then. She didn’t care about the abandoned dinner or about whatever might be happening inside the house in her absence— she could think only of the disappointment and disdain in her father’s tone, the way that he’d so easily berated her in front of a perfect stranger.

No, it hadn’t been a stranger. He’d berated her in front of someone that he believed to be important in her life. He’d taken the opportunity to try and embarrass her, just because he knew that Percy meant something to her.

Painful reality sank in. Annabeth pressed her forehead against her knees, trying to regain control of her breathing as she let herself finally accept the fact that it would never matter. She and Piper could sweep the tournament, they could make it to Athens, even bring home gold and it wouldn’t be enough. In her father’s eyes, she would never be more than that stubborn, disappointing version of herself. Smart-mouthed, self-absorbed Annabeth with her stupid, irrational dreams that were nothing more than a waste of time and money.

Her father — the one person that was, by nature, supposed to care about her, the person that was supposed to be proud of her accomplishments — didn’t respect her at all. And the person who had no responsibility to her, that didn’t have a single obligation to be kind to her, seemed to think so highly of her.

Something settled into the spot next beside Annabeth, momentum crashing against her as arms wrapped over her shoulders. It didn’t take any thought at all for her to know it was Percy, his strong embrace cradling her head against his chest as her shoulders began to shake. She felt his hand stroke her hair and it was over— there was nothing left to do but let it happen.

Her chest ached with the effort it had been taking to keep the sobs contained, to keep the tears in her eyes and she couldn’t take it any longer. Her entire body relaxed against him, her fists twisting in the front of his shirt as she let his arms hold her together. She barely heard it, the muttered curses that fell from his lips as he ran another shaking hand over her hair. 

“It’s okay,” he said quietly. “You’re okay.” 

She realized for the first time that his heart was racing just as fast as hers had been. If the show he’d put on inside was even marginally true, he’d done an astonishing job at controlling himself and reigning in his temper. Guilt washed over her in an instant: guilt for bringing him there, guilt for subjecting him to her father’s scrutiny for even a few moments, guilt for forcing his hand and making him feel like he had to defend her.

“I’m sorry—”

“No.” The objection was drenched in finality, his arms crossing over her shoulders and holding her even tighter than before. “You’re not apologizing— not to me or to anyone else. You didn’t do anything wrong. God, you told me he was an ass but I—” he shook his head, disbelief plain in his voice. “I’m so sorry, Annabeth. I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you.” 

Annabeth let herself count to ten before she pushed back. His arms resisted initially, unwilling to let her go, but they loosened as she sat up, his hands moving to grip each of her upper arms gently. Her eyes scanned his face, unsure what to make of his tightly knitted brow and clenched jaw. “Percy,” she managed, her voice sounding so thin she could barely stand to hear it, “can we just go home?”

Percy swallowed, measuring her reaction carefully before he nodded. “Yeah, Beth,” he said, giving her biceps a quick squeeze. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

TOURNAMENT DAY ONE - THURSDAY

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 66

In Percy’s defense, he hadn’t done anything wrong. 

The embarrassment that she felt was her own fault, and she couldn’t blame him for the way that she cringed at the mere memory of what it had felt like to collapse onto the curb in front of her father’s house, letting her tears fall freely. It was not Percy’s fault that she hadn’t been strong enough to hold it together. Still, the thought of facing him was overwhelming. 

And so, she hadn’t— faced him, that is. Nearly a week had passed since the dinner, and they hadn’t seen each other since. They’d talked enough, keeping tabs through occasional texts, but the distance felt needed. Letting Percy into her childhood home had unearthed something unexpected and she wasn’t entirely certain that it was a good thing. 

In the days since they’d left the Chase home, Annabeth had been forced to recognize just how much she had come to rely on Percy. Before he’d come into her life, she’d had Connor and her roommates, but even they were out of reach at the moment. Connor was too familiar with the situation. The last time she’d asked him for advice regarding Percy, he’d simply shrugged and told her to tell him the truth— as if that was a reasonable option. Hazel was busy with her summer internship, Thalia was up to her eyeballs in packing boxes and tape, and (now that they’d finally put an official label on their longtime flirtationship) Katie was spending nearly every waking moment with Travis Stoll. Her usual support system was tied up, and the urge to lean on Percy was strong. 

When things went wrong, she fought the urge to give him a call. When practices were exhausting, she swallowed back a desire to make a quick stop by his apartment on her way home, just to have some form of a distraction for a few minutes. 

The truth was, Percy had seemed equally shaken up by the events of that evening. Maybe she had overstepped a boundary in expecting so much from him, or maybe the words of reassurance that had come so easily under a cover of night just didn’t come as easily in the light of day. Either way, she couldn’t blame him. 

The only upside to their current estrangement was that Annabeth found herself with newfound free time to devote to practice and training. The previous week had been packed full of extended sessions, drop-in classes at the pilates studio, and extra hours spent in the gym, and she was feeling every bit of it in her muscles. She ached with the extra exertion, but it was a dull pain that made her feel stronger even in her exhaustion. 

By the time Thursday had rolled around and she, Piper, and Coach Hedge had all found each other at their gate, her body had mostly stopped rebelling. The flight was short, only about two hours from San Francisco to Salt Lake City, and they were checked in and completely settled into their hotel rooms by early afternoon. 

Usually, Annabeth took Piper up on her generous offer to share a room since she was usually pretty strapped for cash, but she’d splurged on this trip. With the stress of needing to save every penny she had for the fall semester’s tuition lifted from her shoulders, Annabeth had felt a lot more comfortable with booking a room for herself as a treat. It was nice to have some space to unwind and relax before the competition began, and she was thankful that she’d been so adamant about securing her own lodgings for their final trip of the season. 

The opening ceremonies were far more tolerable than usual, with an abbreviated speaker and only one short social hour on the schedule, and Annabeth was thrilled to find herself neck-deep in a bubble bath before eighty-thirty had even rolled around. She could get a good night of uninterrupted sleep and try to ready herself for the next day's games. 

The stress and the reality of just how important the next two and a half days were going to be was finally settling in and Annabeth would be lying if she said that she wasn’t a little terrified. 

She’d managed to avoid Silena, Julia, and Luke at the opening events, and she was grateful for that. Ever since the interview with Chloe, Annabeth had felt a little more raw than usual about the entire ordeal, and she was not at all looking forward to facing Luke if they happened to run into each other again (and in a circle so small, they were almost certain to cross paths).

When the water had turned to an uncomfortable, tepid temperature, Annabeth finally managed to pull herself out of the bath and got ready for bed. Having become so used to the constant sound of other people, the hotel room felt eerily quiet. Even the gentle hum of the air conditioning unit wasn’t enough to fill the space that she hadn’t even realized she’d come to expect. Through the quiet, a gentle bzz met her ears and caused her to open her eyes. 

10:14 PM - PERCY J:
How are we feeling?

Surprisingly, Annabeth felt relieved when she opened the message. Things had been so strained lately that the casual text felt comfortable. Annabeth never thought she’d be so glad to have her sleep interrupted by a text, but now she was wide awake.

10:15 PM - ANNABETH:
Can I call you?

She’d barely pressed ‘send’ when her phone began to vibrate in her hand, the screen filling with a picture of Percy that she’d sneakily taken from the passenger side of the car one evening. The sun was setting through the driver’s side window and he was singing along to the radio, looking entirely at ease— it would’ve been irresponsible not to take a picture of such a perfect moment. 

“Hey,” she said, bringing the phone to her ear. “Sorry, I just didn’t really feel like texting.”

“I just wanted to check in since I haven’t heard from you today,” he explained. “It’s cool if you don’t want to talk. I’m sure you’re tired.”

“No, it’s fine, really,” Annabeth assured him. “I was just sitting here thinking about how weird it is that this is our last trip, and Piper’s got her own room so it’s weird and quiet and I just feel kind of… off.”

“Nerves, you think?” Percy asked. “It’s a big competition— I’d be more surprised if you weren’t nervous.” 

Annabeth sighed. “Yeah, I mean, I’m sure it’s mostly nerves. I just know that I’m going to see Luke and it’s been a lot harder for me to push all that down the past few weeks.” 

The other end of the line was quiet for a few seconds. “I’m sorry, Annabeth.”

“Why?” she asked, laughing slightly in an attempt to keep her tone casual. “You didn’t do anything.”

“I shouldn’t have made you feel like you had to tell me what happened,” he said. “I’m sure reliving it like that didn’t help.”

“You didn’t make me do anything, Percy. I wanted to tell you,” Annabeth said definitively. “I guess it did stir things up a little, but I can handle it. Tournaments are always rough because of that— I’m used to it.” 

“Would it help if I told you I think you’re a badass?” 

“That does help a little,” she smiled. “But please, reserve your praise for the end of the competition.”

“I can’t make any promises. What time do you play tomorrow? Frank and I are going over to Connor’s so we can watch the matches,” Percy explained, “you know, since we’re best friends now.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not,” Annabeth admitted, laughing as she rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, “but you better be nice to Connor. He thinks you’re just about the coolest guy he’s ever met. Definitely has a huge crush on you, so if you break his heart—”

“Alright, alright, I get it,” he laughed. When his laughter quieted, there was a pause. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Yeah,” Percy confirmed. “You said Connor thinks I’m the coolest guy ever. What do you think?”

“Oh.” Annabeth took the hem of the top sheet and ran it over the microphone a few times. “Sorry, I think we have a bad connection. That’s so weird; this never happens.”

“So you do agree,” he said over the sound of the fake crackling, a proud smugness in his voice. “I knew it.”

Annabeth laughed as she dropped the sheet. “Fine,” she sighed dramatically. “I think you’re great. Don’t tell anyone.”

“Our little secret, Diner Girl,” Percy said, and she could practically hear his smile through the phone. “Hey, you never answered my question, though. What time do you play?”

“Well, we start prelims at nine, but I doubt they even televise those,” she answered. “You might be able to find a livestream or something if you’re really committed but our first real match won’t be until Saturday morning— assuming we make it that far.”

“Please— you will,” Percy said confidently. “You’re gonna sweep, just like last time.”

“We got second place last time, thank you very much.”

“Whatever; I just know you’re going to be amazing.” There was another pause as Annabeth tried to figure out how to respond to his compliments, but before she could say anything, he continued. “I’m assuming that it would be stupid of me to ask if your dad is gonna be there, huh?”

Annabeth sighed again, though this one was real. “You’re not stupid,” she said, “but no, he definitely won’t be here. I can’t even remember the last time my dad came to a tournament.”

“I just thought, since this one is a lot closer to home—”

“Yeah, still no,” Annabeth scoffed. “We played in LA back in the spring and he didn’t even make the drive up for that.”

“You think he’ll go to Greece?”

A sharp, humorless laugh escaped her throat. “Yeah, right.”

“Is it alright that I think your dad’s kind of an asshole?” Percy asked after a moment. 

“It’s more than alright,” she confirmed, feeling just a bit warmed by the shared dislike. Still, she wasn’t really in the mood to talk about her father. The subject of Freddy Chase had a way of bringing her mood crashing down, and that was the last thing that she wanted. “What about you? Is Sally going to Omaha?”

“She can’t really afford to be away from the bakery for that long,” he explained. “And if I do make it onto the US Team, she’s gonna try to make it to Greece for at least part of the Games, so she’s trying to limit her time off.”

“You’ve gotta stop using that word.”

“What word?” Percy asked, obviously confused. 

“‘If’,” she said. “It’s not if you make it onto the team— you’re going to.”

Percy was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was soft. “Thanks, Beth.”

“Anytime, water boy.” That earned her a laugh and she smiled at the sound. “How’s my best friend?”

There was a beat of silence. “Frank?”

“Mrs. O’Leary, duh,” Annabeth said, smiling at Percy’s obviously confused tone. “Tell her that I miss her.”

“And she misses you,” he assured her. “But, for the record, I think Frank does, too.”

Annabeth laughed. They talked for another twenty minutes and caught each other up on all of the things that hadn’t been covered in their brief text exchanges in the past few days. Frank’s pre-veterinary program had hooked him up with a summer internship at the animal shelter and that was keeping him busy. Percy had added another hour to his training regimen, something that Annabeth thought should probably be impossible. She wasn’t sure how he was able to move. (He assured her that it wasn’t without difficulty.) 

Annabeth filled him in on Thalia’s departure and gave him an update of the roommate hunt. Truthfully, there wasn’t much to tell. Hazel and Katie had met with a handful of girls and had narrowed it down to a few that they really liked, but Annabeth hadn’t had the time to meet any of them herself. She trusted her friends’ judgment though, and had given her blessing to let them choose whoever they thought would mesh the best. 

Eventually, the conversation seemed to reach a natural lull, much to Annabeth’s dismay. 

“Well, I guess I should let you get some sleep,” Percy said. “It’s getting pretty late there.”

“Salt Lake is only an hour ahead of San Francisco, Percy,” she laughed. “But, yeah, I should probably try to get some sleep.”

In the brief silence that fell in after her words, the open air where it was fairly plain to her that neither of them really knew how to end the call, Annabeth felt the fluttering in her chest quicken. It still managed to surprise her to realize how much she missed him when they went so long without talking. It only served as a reminder that, beneath all of the fake niceties and forced contact, they’d managed to forge some sort of real bond. Maybe it had been born out of less than ideal circumstances, but she was grateful for it all the same. 

“Hey, Percy?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad you called.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Me too.”

“Well, I guess I’ll go to sleep,” Annabeth sighed, rolling onto her side, “but I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.”

“You better,” he said through what must have been a yawn. Annabeth smiled at the thought of him, seven hundred miles away, lying in bed too. “Night, Beth.”

-

TOURNAMENT DAY THREE - SATURDAY

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 64

Friday had been a complete cake walk. Between their second and third matches, Annabeth opened her phone to a photo from Percy: a selfie of him and Connor making ridiculous faces on the couch at the boys’ apartment along with the message, ‘Found a livestream!’. Annabeth laughed, snapping a similar picture of herself and Piper on the bleachers of the gymnasium and sending it back. 

When it was all said and done, Piper and Annabeth swept through their three Round Robin games without so much as breaking a sweat. Celebrating such an effortless victory felt a little strange, but they both felt that they’d more than earned a bit of relaxation. The unspoken truth hung in the air whether they wanted to acknowledge it or not: tomorrow was the real deal.

And not just for the sake of this tournament; Saturday’s events could potentially make or break their next two months. In two weeks, the final Top 15 list would be published and if their names weren’t on it, they’d be left off of the US Team and would be watching the Games from home. This was their last chance to make a lasting impression and prove that they were good enough to compete on the global stage. 

Oddly enough, even with all of that mounting pressure, Annabeth found it relatively easy to coax herself to sleep that night. She knew that she would need every ounce of her strength and energy if she hoped to stand a chance at advancing, they’d need to come out swinging. As she climbed into bed, she remembered her promise to let Percy know how the day’s matches had turned out. She was just about to reach for her phone when she decided against it, telling herself that she would just get caught up in conversation and stay up too late. 

Still, she couldn’t help but think about how nice it would be to hear his reassuring words. Maybe he was only being nice to her because it was the polite thing to do (sportsmanlike, at the very least), but his support had been unendingly encouraging to her in the last several weeks. The thought was tempting, but she resisted.

Annabeth fell asleep with a promise that she’d call Percy before their first set.

-

Instead of her alarm, Annabeth awoke to the sound of pounding on her door. She sat bolt upright, eyes widening as soon as she glanced at the clock. 

“Shit,” she muttered, scrambling out of bed. Tripping over the pillows that she’d tossed onto the floor, she stumbled toward the door and pulled it open without even looking. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she repeated, already turning back into the room and rifling through her duffle bag. “I’ll be ready in two minutes.”

“You never oversleep,” Piper said, slipping through the open doorway with a laugh. “I’m just glad I woke up early. We have about ten minutes before the next shuttle, so you have a little time.” 

“I can’t believe I forgot to set an alarm,” Annabeth mumbled as she pulled her uniform top on. “Is Coach pissed?”

“Nah,” she shook her head, “just worried. Like I said, you never oversleep so I think he thought maybe you’d run away or been kidnapped in the night or something.” 

Annabeth sighed as she dug out the pants to her tracksuit, identical to the ones that Piper was wearing. She pulled the scrunchie from her hair as she flipped on the light above the mirror and began to try to smooth out the mess of curls enough that she could attempt some sort of braid. 

“Not kidnapped,” she groaned, fingers moving nimbly and automatically through the hair, “just stupid.” 

“Not stupid,” Piper refuted, stepping toward her with Annabeth’s jacket folded over her arm and her slide sandals in hand. She set the shoes down on the floor and stepped out of the way again. “But this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t insisted on getting your own room— that’s all I’m saying.”

In one motion, Annabeth slipped her feet into her sandals and reached for her toothbrush and toothpaste. “Oh, shut up,” she mumbled around a mouthful of toothpaste. 

Piper laughed and retreated out of the bathroom while Annabeth finished brushing her teeth. By the time she looked up from rinsing, Piper had thrown her necessities (water bottle, cell phone, a few extra hair ties, and an extra t-shirt) into a duffel bag and was waiting beside the door. 

“You’re beautiful and I don’t deserve you,” she sighed in relief, taking the tracksuit jacket and slipping her arms through the sleeves as she followed Piper out into the hotel hallway. Piper responded by laughing and dropping the strap of the duffle bag over Annabeth’s head as they hurried toward the elevators. 

They made it to the lobby just as the shuttle to the arena was coming to a stop in the covered drop-off area. Coach Hedge waited near the doors, but Annabeth was relieved to see that he didn’t look any more grumpy than usual. They made it to the arena with plenty of time to spare, and Annabeth finally took a moment to catch her breath. 

“Well, we should probably warm-up,” she decided once they’d checked-in and received their court assignment for the first matchup. Piper nodded and they set to it, stretching and doing a few abbreviated sets of calisthenics to get their blood pumping. 

When they took to the court a few minutes later, Annabeth was still buzzing from the adrenaline of her startling wakeup call. Her muscles were electrified, senses heightened and on high-alert. The other team didn’t stand a chance. The match was over in record time and Coach Hedge almost looked pleased. 

“We’ve got less than an hour and a half before the next round,” he said, looking at his watch. Piper had already staked out a corner of the hallway outside of the gym, using her bag as a pillow while she flipped through a magazine. “Not really enough time to do anything but sit around and wait. Chase, how you holding up?”

“What?” Annabeth asked, looking up from her phone at the sound of her name. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Coach sighed, “do you need coffee or something? You awake over there?”

“I’m fine,” she shook her head. “I got an extra thirty minutes of sleep— you should be worrying about Piper.”

“I’m always on my A-game, Chase,” Piper smiled without looking away from her magazine. “Nice try, though.”

Annabeth laughed, leaning back against the wall and sliding down to the floor beside Piper. Hedge clicked his tongue in disapproval. “You cupcakes are killing me,” he groaned, looking over his shoulder. “I’m going to find the concession stand.” 

“We’ll be here,” Piper called back. She laid the open tabloid on her chest as she looked up at Annabeth. “I’d never let Coach hear it, but he’s right. You do seem kind of out of it.”

“I’m fine, really,” Annabeth assured her. She looked back down at her phone. “I meant to call Percy this morning and I obviously didn’t get the chance to. And I think he’s still in the gym so I don’t want to interrupt his training.”

“Is that, like, totally weird? Having an Olympian for a boyfriend?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows slightly at the word Olympian. “Like, I’m sure his training schedule is insane, right?”

“I mean, it’s not really all that different from ours,” Annabeth shrugged. “He’s been putting in a bit more time lately since the qualifiers are just a few weeks away, but he’s always trained hard. It’s actually been kind of nice to have someone that understands the schedule and the time commitment.”

“I get that,” Piper nodded, raising her magazine again. “The last girl I dated was always aggro about how much time I had to spend training. She’d accuse me of choosing volleyball over her, when the reality was just that she didn’t like having to work around someone else’s schedule.”

“Well, she sounds selfish and you’re better off without her.”

“I agree,” Piper laughed. She nudged Annabeth with her foot. “So, other than that, how’re things with the boy?”

“They’re… really good,” she admitted, and she was surprised to find that she actually meant it. 

The situation with Percy was complicated, but the last few weeks had certainly solidified his place in her life as someone that could be depended on. She finally felt like they’d moved from that awkward, forced acquaintanceship stage into something that resembled an actual friendship, and though it had caught her off guard, it was a pleasant surprise. There was a part of her that still had to fight back the longing for something deeper, but she was extremely grateful for his companionship, all the same. 

“Well, that’s really good,” Piper replied, mimicking Annabeth’s tone.

They talked for a while about Piper’s upcoming marketing internship for the fall and Annabeth recounted the details of their only-slightly-awkward photoshoot, hoping that her retelling avoided the more telling details well enough. Piper promised to buy twelve copies of the magazine, and Annabeth was only about forty percent confident that she was joking. 

By the time Hedge returned, it was nearly time to begin warming up for their next match. They walked into the gymnasium, the match on the court nearest them was just coming to a close. Julia Feingold and her missile of an arm smacked a ball into the sand at the feet of the other team, leaving a crater on the court as the buzzer sounded. Silena and Julia hugged each other as Luke jogged out onto the sand and hugged each girl individually for what felt like an unnecessarily long amount of time.

Maybe it was her own bias but the action was enough to make Annabeth look away in disgust. 

“What a weirdo,” Piper scoffed under her breath as they walked. “Thank God Hedge never does anything like that.”

“You have no idea,” Annabeth sighed, shaking her head. They reached the bleachers and Annabeth dropped her bag onto the floor at the edge of the court. She tugged the zipper on her jacket down before she realized Piper had a strange look on her face. “What is it?”

Piper pointed and Annabeth’s eyes followed. “Is that—”

“Oh my God.”

Midway up the stands, side by side and wearing identical cocky grins, stood Percy and Connor.

Chapter Text

TOURNAMENT DAY THREE - SATURDAY

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 64

Looking back, she didn’t remember ever actually telling her feet to move, but at some point she must have. Somehow, in a fog of excitement, Annabeth had ducked under the railing at the bottom of the bleachers and begun to take the steps two at a time. The boys had apparently risen to meet her, shuffling out of their row and reaching the aisle just as Annabeth leapt toward Percy, throwing her arms around his neck tightly. 

A wave of whoops and cheers went through a small circle of the crowd around them as Percy lifted her off her feet and returned the hug. These people were, of course, here to support the other teams in the tournament— they didn’t know Percy or Annabeth and certainly not Connor, but the reunion was obviously a happy one, and humans are funny creatures that tend to get excited about things like that. 

So they cheered, not one of them louder than Connor, and Annabeth let them.

“What in the hell are you doing here?” Annabeth beamed as Percy set her back onto her feet. She turned and pulled Connor into a hug that was almost as enthusiastic as the first before she turned her attention back to Percy, shoving his shoulder lightly. “You’re supposed to be training.”

“Hotel has a pool,” he shrugged with a smile. 

“You lied to me,” she accused. “You said you were going to watch the stream with Frank.”

“We did that yesterday,” Percy confirmed with a nod.

“That’s how we got the idea,” Connor added. “We were watching and this guy,” he said, playfully smacking Percy in the chest for emphasis, “says, ‘I wish we could be there’. And I was like, I mean, what’s stopping us? Did you know Percy’s a Delta Premium—”

“Okay,” Percy interrupted, looking only a little embarrassed as he quieted Connor. “Look, we didn’t mean to distract you. I was hoping you wouldn’t see us until after the match anyway.”

“You’re not distracting me, promise,” Annabeth smiled. She glanced at Connor who had a look of absolute pride on his face. “I’m… I’m really glad you guys are here. I guess you’re staying the night?”

“Yeah, we’ve got a room at the hotel the FIVB recommended. Our stuff’s down in the rental,” Percy answered, nodding his head in the direction of the parking lot. “We came straight here from the airport.” 

Behind them, Annabeth heard her name being called from down on the court. She glanced back to see Hedge tapping the face of his watch with an annoyed expression and she smiled as she turned back to her friends. “I should probably go.”

Connor stepped up, wrapping an arm over Annabeth’s shoulders. “Go kick ass, Annababe.”

She reached out, pinching his stomach hard until he released her with a grimace. “What’d I tell you about calling me that?” Percy laughed and Annabeth rolled her eyes. She kind of hated how happy she was to have them both here— not because she didn’t want them there, but because it was entirely bizarre. 

“Okay, okay,” Connor groaned, rubbing the spot on his stomach where she’d pinched him, “no need to resort to violence.” 

“Can you keep an eye on him?” Annabeth asked Percy.

“I’ll try my best,” he smiled. There was a moment of hesitation as he opened his mouth and closed it again, almost as if there were something more that he wanted to say. Instead, Percy just wrapped an arm around her, giving her a quick squeeze before he stepped back. “Good luck.”

Annabeth waved before she turned and hurried back down the risers, slipping under the railing again. Piper was grinning like crazy as she approached. 

“Well, that was adorable,” she said, elbowing Annabeth gently. “I guess you didn’t know that they were coming?”

“Not a clue,” she shook her head as she glanced back at the bleachers. “They said it was pretty last minute; I think they just decided to make the trip last night.” 

“Chase! You’re not letting that boy get to you, are you?” Hedge barked, appearing at their side seemingly out of thin air. “I need you sharp for this last match.” Annabeth rolled her eyes while Piper laughed and Hedge peered up at the bleachers. “You got yourself two boyfriends now?”

“Coach, you know Connor,” she sighed as she slipped her slides off of her feet and dropped them on top of her duffel bag. “He’s been to a ton of our games.”

“Hm,” Hedge hummed, rubbing his scruffy beard absentmindedly. “I guess he does look kind of familiar. Well, we’ll have to take the boys out for dinner then.”

Annabeth and Piper exchanged a look of bewilderment. “Why?” Annabeth asked finally.

“It’s the polite thing to do, isn’t it?” Hedge asked, raising his hands in confusion. “They came all this way— least we can do is entertain ‘em.”

Piper raised an eyebrow. “Since when do you care about being a good host?”

“Just for that, I’m adding an extra mile to your training, McLean,” he mumbled. “I’m nice, alright? But we don’t have time to argue this right now. Get over there and start stretching. I need you on the sand in two minutes.”

Once they’d stretched for the second time that day, Piper and Annabeth took to the court. When she first walked out, Annabeth had worried that knowing Percy was in the stands would really psyche her out, but his presence actually seemed to have the opposite effect. Knowing that he was watching made her want to try even harder than she normally would, and the girls easily took the advantage early in the first match. 

The second match was a bit harder. Annabeth’s confidence was wearing down and it felt like the other team had just begun to hit their stride. Annabeth had spent more time with her face in the sand in the last ten minutes than in the previous three weeks of training and she was feeling the strain of every fall. 

Piper seemed to be acutely aware of her teammate’s anxieties. “Hey, Chase,” she said quietly as they set up to receive the next serve. “If you need a timeout, just call it.”

“I’m fine,” Annabeth shook her head, tossing her braid over her shoulder and brushing her hands on her thighs to shake off the sand. “Just need to finish this match.” 

“Fine,” Piper said, straightening and gesturing to Hedge. “Coach! Time!”

“Time out!” he called, and the official blew his whistle sharply. 

“What was that?” Annabeth asked as she jogged off the court and took one of the bottles of water Hedge was holding out.

“You needed a break and I know you weren’t going to call for one yourself,” she answered, taking the other bottle. “Catch your breath. Eight more points and we can end this early.”

“You’re looking good, ladies. Just stay consistent,” Hedge nodded, his eyes trained on the other team. “Your technical skills are better, so don’t let them intimidate you. Piper, I need you working those sets.”

“I know, Coach,” she sighed in acknowledgement. “I’m trying.”

“I know you are,” he agreed. “Just keep it up and we’ll be out of here in no time.” He rubbed his chin again. “Should probably have the boys start thinking about dinner—”

Annabeth laughed to herself before she took another sip of water and handed the bottle back. They jogged back out onto the court just as the referee handed the ball back to the other server. The break had been exactly the pause that Annabeth needed to refocus and she was sharper than ever as the ball came soaring over the net. Without even waiting for Piper to slow the momentum, Annabeth slammed the ball back down onto the other side of the net, earning them a point and a loud cheer from the crowd. 

“Nice one, Chase,” Hedge called out as he clapped his hands together and paced up the sideline. “Give me seven more just like that and we’ll get out of here.”

Piper’s next serve was returned with a gentle hit that caused the ball to practically float right into the perfect position for Annabeth to smack the ball straight into the sand once again, and the stands were louder than ever. Piper’s smile was practical electric as she hugged Annabeth and the energy in the room was absolutely infectious. 

“Holy shit, Chase,” she beamed, squeezing her forearms before she released her. “If this is how you play with an audience, we should’ve started inviting Percy a long time ago.”

Truthfully, she’d almost forgotten that Percy and Connor were in the stands, but a quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that they were in fact still there. Both of the boys were on their feet, their excitement plainly visible even from her spot on the sand. When she looked back at Piper, she was sure that her smile took up the majority of the real estate on her face.

Not long after that, the match came to an end with another triumph by the Chase-McLean duo. Coach Hedge seemed more than happy with the outcome, congratulating the girls as they made their way off the court and gathered their belongings, and by the time that Annabeth had slipped back into her tracksuit, Percy and Connor had made it down to the floor. 

“Hot damn, Chase!” Connor whooped as he gave her a high five. “I haven’t seen you play like that in years.”

“I know,” Piper grinned as she straightened, pulling her duffel bag onto her shoulder. “I told her that if I’d known having Percy around was going to turn her into such a show-off, I would’ve invited him myself.”

“That had nothing to do with it,” Annabeth muttered, feeling her cheeks beginning to redden.

Percy poked his lip out dramatically as he stepped toward her, wrapping an arm over her shoulders. “You’re going to hurt my feelings, Beth.”

“Yeah, Beth,” Connor smirked. “You’re gonna hurt his feelings.”

“Alright,” Hedge said, clapping his hands together as he interrupted cheerily. “It’s two-thirty now. Let’s get on back to the hotel so you girls can get changed and rest a while before dinner.”

They'd just begun to walk toward the exit when she heard a voice. 

“Annabeth Chase?”

At the sound of her name, Annabeth turned toward the voice. Her eyes were slightly narrowed as they landed on the woman in a matching navy blue blazer and pencil skirt, iPhone in hand. “Um, yes?”

“Megan Reilly,” she beamed, holding out a hand which Annabeth took hesitantly. “I’m a writer for the FIVB committee newsletter. Do you and Ms. McLean have a few minutes to talk?”

Annabeth glanced at Piper who just shrugged. “Sure,” she nodded, as Percy slipped his arm off of her shoulders. She looked back for a moment. “We’ll meet you guys in the hall in a few, okay?”

“For sure. Here,” Percy said, reaching out to grab the strap of her bag and slide it off of her shoulder, “let me take that.”

Connor held a hand out toward Piper. “I can take yours if you want.” Piper just laughed as she handed it off and Coach Hedge muttered something about not taking too long as he began to make his way toward the doors. As the guys turned to follow Hedge out of the gym, Annabeth noticed their shirts for the first time. 

Somehow in her excitement, she hadn’t even realized they were wearing the same color — much less that they were matching — but now as they walked away, Annabeth could plainly see the bold number six on the back of Percy’s shirt, her last name curved across his shoulders. Connor wore a similar shirt, with a number ten on the back and ‘McLean’ across the top. 

She stared in a surprised state of awe for a moment before Piper tapped her arm. “Chase?”

“Sorry,” she shook her head as she turned her attention back to the reporter. “Did you have a question for us?”

“Is that your boyfriend?” Megan asked, her eyes following Percy and Connor. “That’s so sweet!”

“Um, yeah,” Annabeth laughed nervously. “Yeah, he surprised me today. I didn’t know he was coming.”

“Wow,” the reporter smirked, pulling her eyes back to Annabeth finally. “He looks like that and he’s a sappy romantic— does he have a brother?”

Annabeth gave her another uneasy laugh. “No,” she said, grimacing slightly, “sorry.”

“Figures,” Megan smiled as she looked at her notes. “Anyway, I really only have a quick question for both of you so this shouldn’t take too long. Piper, do you mind if we start with you?” Piper shrugged again. “Great— can you tell me a little about your progress since your injury?”

Piper answered the question carefully, giving the reporter enough information that she hopefully wouldn’t feel the need to push the matter too much, but leaving out any key information that could potentially be used by an opponent. Piper had made a remarkable recovery since she’d completely blown her shoulder a few years back, though she still had trouble with it from time to time— but their competition didn’t need to know that. Megan nodded politely as she held out the iPhone to record the conversation, and after a few minutes, she turned to Annabeth. 

“Kind of a similar question for you, Annabeth,” she said with a smile. “Obviously your team has made a stir because of your position in the rankings and the impressive rate at which you and Piper have made a comeback following your respective breaks. Do you feel like you’re ready to make another bid at the games?”

“Of course I do,” Annabeth said confidently. “Piper and I have been training harder than ever the past few weeks and we’re feeling really good about our stats heading into the semifinals tomorrow. It’s been a long road but all of the hard work has paid off.”

“Assuming you are bumped into the ranking and are invited to represent the United States in Athens,” Megan said, tilting her head slightly, “do you think that competing alongside your previous teammate and coach would be awkward?”

“No,” she frowned, surprised by the question. “Silena is a great athlete and she and Julia have earned their spot in the ranking. It will be an honor to play for our country with them.” At the last second, a thought struck Annabeth and she hurried to add on to her statement. “It’s also an excellent opportunity for us to all represent our schools on the international stage and acknowledge their role in getting us to this point.”

“Interesting,” Megan nodded. “So you credit your University for your success even though you are not currently playing for their team?” 

“Of course I do,” Annabeth nodded, “and I’m sure that Piper would agree. I was playing for the school when Piper reached out to me about working together, and if I hadn’t had the support of my team and my coach, I would never have had the courage to get back on the sand. Our schools have fully supported us throughout this process.”

“That’s great to hear. Well, those were my only questions, and I don’t want to keep you too long,” she said, glancing over Annabeth’s shoulder briefly before she looked back. “You and your boyfriends make really cute couples.”

“Oh, that’s not my boyfriend,” Piper laughed. “I mean, Connor is— yeah, no, it’s definitely not like that. Percy and Annabeth are perfect, though.”

“Wait— that’s right!” Megan said excitedly. “I remember seeing something about that online: you’re dating Percy Jackson!”

“Um,” Annabeth laughed, feeling her cheeks turning red almost immediately, “yep.”

“Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t put that together— he must think that I’m totally awkward,” the reporter groaned. “He’s got his own qualifiers soon, right?”

“Yes, at the end of June,” she nodded. “And for the record, he definitely wouldn’t think you’re awkward. Truthfully, he’s probably happier that you didn’t recognize him. He’s really not into the spotlight.”

“And humble too,” Megan sighed dreamily as she stopped the recording on her phone screen and slid it into the pocket of her blazer. “You better hold on tight to that one.”

Annabeth smiled, rocking nervously on the balls of her feet. “I’ll definitely try.”

“Well, thank you both for your time,” she said, shaking each of the girls’ hands quickly one more time. “I really appreciate it. It was very nice to meet both of you. Best of luck tomorrow!”

“Thank you,” Piper said sweetly, slipping her arm through Annabeth’s as they turned to make their way off the court. When they were a safe distance away, she nudged Annabeth gently. “Are you okay? You spaced, like, the second that Percy walked away.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she laughed. “But did you see their shirts?”

“Whose shirts?”

“Percy’s and Connor’s.”

“What about their shirts? They’re... blue?”

“Look at the back,” Annabeth grinned as they pushed through the doors and walked out into the hallway. Percy, Connor, and Hedge were standing just outside of the double doors, Connor talking emphatically with his hands while Hedge stared at his cell phone. If Annabeth had to guess, she’d say that he was in the process of figuring out where they would all be going for dinner. 

“Welcome back,” Percy smiled as the girls approached. “Nice chat?”

“We’re practically besties now,” Piper nodded. “I think she might have a crush on you, though.”

“Seriously,” Annabeth laughed. “Thankfully she only had a couple of questions— sorry for making you guys wait, though.”

Connor shrugged. “No problem. I was just telling Coach about my school record.”

“Oh, God,” Annabeth groaned, giving both Percy and Hedge apologetic looks. “I’m sorry you had to suffer through that.”

“Very rude,” he frowned. “It’s a good story.”

“Come on, Stoll,” Piper sighed dramatically as she patted him on the shoulder and they began to lead the way out of the arena. Hedge turned to trail behind them without a word, eyes still trained on his phone screen. “You can tell us about it in the car.”

“I’m glad your interview was pretty chill,” Percy said quietly as they also began to follow the group. “Speaking of interviews... I know you’ve been really busy but have you had a chance to look over the email that the magazine sent over?”

Annabeth groaned. “No, what is it now?”

“Nothing serious, they just need our approval on the final version of the story this weekend,” he shrugged. “Honestly, it looked okay to me and Brunner gave it an all-clear, but I figured I should wait until you got a chance to look over it. I wasn’t too sure how much you wanted them to actually say about Luke.”

“What about me?” 

Annabeth’s feet came to a dead stop and Percy mirrored the action. They both turned quickly toward the sound of the voice, surprised to find Luke Castellan standing just a few steps away. Without even having to look at him, Annabeth felt Percy move a bit closer, straightening to his full height at her side.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh come on, Annie,” Luke sighed, crossing his arms. Even though he was just barely twenty-nine, he looked so much older and the dark circles under his tired eyes didn't help. He wore a self-satisfied smile that emphasized the crows feet and slightly sunburnt skin. “It’s a tournament. You know why we’re here.”

“No, what are you doing here?” she clarified, her jaw clenching. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to congratulate you on your impressive win,” he said casually. “Julia’s overextended her arm a bit so we’re pulling out so she can rest it. Got to be in top shape for Greece, you know?”

Annabeth didn’t say anything. She stared back, her heartbeat seeming to triple in speed. It had been four years since she’d left the Castellan gym and even though she’d been forced to be in Luke’s vicinity many times since, this was the first time he had actually exhibited the audacity to approach her— and Annabeth couldn’t help but think that maybe Percy’s presence had something to do with that. 

“It’s too bad about your luck this season,” Luke noted. “Keep training though and I’m sure you’ll be able to get there eventually.”

“The rankings aren’t final yet,” she said sharply. 

Luke laughed. It was a dry but loud sound and there was something sort of cutting about the way he shook his head as he grinned. “You don’t really think that one tournament is going to bump you into qualifying, right?”

Annabeth felt every muscle in her body tense but she didn’t respond. 

“I mean, you’ve done some great work but…” Luke tapered off as he frowned in mock-sympathy. “It’s a shame that you left our gym— I would’ve gotten you there.” 

A white hot heat began building in her chest as she stared back. She wanted to speak, to remind Luke of why she’d left the gym all those years ago and how it had nothing to do with volleyball, but her words wouldn’t bring themselves forward.

Percy rested a hand on her back. “Annabeth, maybe we should—”

“I did try to warn you,” Luke interrupted, his smirk only growing. He didn’t so much as glance at Percy, his blue eyes boring into Annabeth instead. “I told you, Annie. I told you that you’d never make it without me.” 

All around them, people filtered in and out of the gym. Piper, Hedge, and Connor had disappeared long ago, probably not even noticing that Percy and Annabeth had been held up. Spectators and athletes alike filled the front hall as they moved from one match to another. They were surrounded by people that had no idea just how close she was to breaking.

Luke gave her a once over before his arms dropped to his sides and he took a step forward. “Why are you training with that old guy anyway? Didn’t we have a good thing going back in the day?” He reached a hand forward to touch her arm and the tense stillness shattered.

Before Luke got anywhere near touching Annabeth, Percy’s hand shot forward and wrapped tightly around his wrist. Luke’s collected and confident look fell away in an instant as Percy narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice. “You even think about touching her and we’re going to have a problem.”

Luke pulled his wrist free. He shoved his hands into his pockets, trying to maintain a look of composure though his cheeks were already beginning to redden. “No need to cause a scene.” 

“If I cause a scene, you’ll know it.” Percy continued to stare him down for a moment, waiting until Luke took a step back before he relaxed even the slightest amount. “Come on Beth,” he said, his tone leaving no room for dissent (not that she’d want to anyway). He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he steered her away and she didn’t resist in the slightest. 

They were several feet away when she risked a glance back, unsurprised to find a smug smirk on Luke’s face as he watched their retreat.

“I’m so sorry,” he muttered, subconsciously pulling her closer as he shook his head. “I should’ve gotten you out of there as soon as he walked up.”

“It’s okay, Percy,” she said softly. “I’m just… I’m glad you were there.”

He exhaled loudly as they reached the doors that lead out to the parking lot to where Piper, Connor, and Hedge were waiting at the bottom of the steps that led up to the entrance.

Connor raised an eyebrow as they approached. He met Percy’s eye and some kind of silent signal seemed to be exchanged, a subtle, wordless micro-communication that surprised Annabeth. “Everything okay?”

“Fine,” Percy nodded. His voice was, admittedly, shockingly even considering how tense he was. Annabeth could feel his anger practically radiating off of him, his arm still holding her tightly against his side. “We just got held up talking to someone.”

“Okay,” Piper replied, obviously confused but not wanting to say anything, “well, Connor suggested that we all just ride back to the hotel together, but he couldn’t remember where you parked.”

Percy forced a smile so believable that if Annabeth hadn't been pressed against his side, even she might’ve believed that he was relaxed. “Follow me,” he said as they all made their way out toward the lot. When they reached the car (‘car’ being a very loose definition of the vehicle, which was actually a massive SUV and not a sedan as Annabeth had assumed) they loaded the duffel bags into the back alongside the guys’ backpacks and piled in.

The car was only barely at a stop when Hedge said something about going to call his wife and climbed out. He reminded them about the agreed upon meeting time before he hurried off toward the hotel. 

“I’m gonna go get us checked in,” Percy said to Connor as they walked into the lobby. “I’ll be right back.”

Annabeth sighed as she dropped her bag at her feet and settled onto the empty couch on the other side of the lobby and Connor sat down in the empty spot beside her immediately. 

“You okay?” he asked quietly.

“I’m fine,” she said, sounding pretty unconvincing even to her own ears. “We ran into Luke.”

Connor’s eyes widened slightly in recognition. “I see.” It was clear that he had more to say about that, but Piper sat down across from them a moment later. Connor moved quickly to change the subject, bringing a smile to his lips easily. “Well, how are we feeling about tomorrow, Pipes?”

They chatted quietly about the tournament but Annabeth wasn’t really listening. Being confronted by Luke was not at all what she’d expected from this day, and saying that it had unnerved her would be a gross understatement. She’d become so intently focused on staring at the floor that Percy’s voice startled her. 

“So, there’s um,” he began, rubbing the back of his neck. “There’s a small problem.”

“What’s wrong? Only single rooms left?” Connor grinned. “Honestly, I was kinda looking forward to sharing a bed anyway.”

“Not exactly,” Percy shook his head. “No beds at all, actually. And the confirmation number that I have isn’t pulling anything up on their computer— like the reservation didn’t go through, or something. So we don’t have a room and there aren’t any available for tonight.”

Connor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “So, should we try to find another hotel?”

“No way,” Piper interrupted. “There’s no point in going through all of that trouble just for one night. We’ve got two rooms; you can just stay with us.”

“Yeah,” Annabeth nodded. “I’ll just stay with Piper tonight and you guys can have my room.”

“What? That’s ridiculous, Annabeth,” Piper laughed. “Look, Connor can stay in my room so that you and Percy can stay together. If that’s okay with Connor, I mean.”

“I think that sounds like a great idea, Piper,” he smiled, patting Annabeth on the back. “Best idea I’ve heard in a while, actually.”

“Come on, Pipes,” Annabeth shook her head. “You don’t really want to share a room with Connor.”

“It’s not a big deal,” she shrugged. “Besides, it’s just one night. How bad can it be?”

“Not bad at all. I’m a great roomie,” Connor smiled. “I don’t even snore."

Annabeth looked back at Percy, her eyes asking a silent question. “I, uh,” he stammered, clearly realizing he hadn’t weighed in on the discussion, “I mean, I guess that makes sense. If it’s okay with you— I don’t want to put you out, Piper.”

“Please,” she groaned as she got to her feet. “It’s the least that I can do to say thank you for coming all the way out here to watch us, right?”

Connor rose to his feet, offering a hand to help Annabeth up before they all made their way toward the elevator. When they reached the third floor, Piper walked out into the hall with Connor right behind her. A moment later though, a hand caught the door as it began to slide closed and a pair of mischievous blue eyes peered back into the lift. 

He leaned forward, his voice a whisper. “So, she’s like, not into guys at all?”

“I mean, she’s bisexual… but I swear to God, Connor,” Annabeth said, pointing a finger at him accusingly, “if I find out that you hit on her—”

“I’m joking!” he cackled, removing his hand from the door with a smirk. He shot them a wink. “Have fun, you two.”

The elevator door slid closed and Percy and Annabeth rode to the sixth floor in silence. 

Chapter Text

TOURNAMENT DAY THREE - SATURDAY

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 64

The distance from the elevator to their room was only about fifteen feet but it felt so much longer as Annabeth and Percy walked down the hall in tense silence. When they reached the door, she slid the keycard into the lock and pulled the handle down wordlessly, instant regret hitting her as soon as she got a glimpse inside. In the rush and excitement of the day, Annabeth had totally forgotten about her chaotic morning and the mess that she’d left in her wake, but now it was staring her in the face.

“Wow,” Percy said, stepping deeper into the room as the door swung closed. He reached down and grabbed a pair of sweatpants off of the floor with a smirk. “You’re kind of a slob.”

“No, I’m not,” Annabeth grumbled, snatching the pants away as she dropped her bag and hurried to collect the rest of her belongings that were scattered around the room. “I overslept this morning so I didn’t have time to pick up. Plus, I wasn’t exactly expecting company.”

“So sorry to intrude, Miss Chase,” he smiled, crossing his arms as he set his bag on the floor and leaned back against the dresser. “Seriously, though— if this makes you uncomfortable or whatever, I’ll find somewhere else to stay. I can probably convince Gleeson to let me crash—”

“It’s fine,” she shook her head. “And please don’t call him Gleeson.”

“That’s his name, isn’t it?”

“As far as I’m concerned, his name is Coach.”

“Fair enough,” Percy shrugged, laughing to himself. 

He was doing a good job of acting casual and relaxed, but Annabeth could see through it. Percy was still tense from their run-in with Luke and the signs were clearly evident in the way that his jaw was set, the way he couldn’t stand still for very long. It might’ve fooled another person — someone that didn’t know him so well — but it wasn’t going to fool her. 

After a moment, he continued. “But I’m not kidding. I’ll do something different—”

“Percy,” Annabeth said, straightening as she looked over at him, “it’s okay, really. You can just take the other bed and it’ll be fine. I don’t think it’s weird if you don’t.” She dropped the pile of gathered clothes beside her duffel bag on top of the unmade bed. “If Connor and Piper can survive a night together, I think we can manage.”

He seemed to be okay with that answer, nodding slightly as he pushed away from the dresser. “Alright,” he said, shrugging again as he moved his backpack from the floor to the unused bed and unzipped the top before he began rummaging around. “Since we have a few hours, I think I’m going to try to fit in a quick workout. You wanna go?”

Truthfully, the idea of going to the gym felt torturous, but Annabeth knew that it couldn’t hurt to stretch a bit. She’d take it easy of course, but she definitely had some steam to blow off. She sighed, hands on her hips as she scanned the pile of clothes in front of her. “Fine, but we have to keep it short so I have time to shower and change before dinner.”

“You don’t think that we’re going anywhere nice, right? I didn’t pack anything besides t-shirts and I’m sure that Connor didn’t either,” Percy explained as he pulled his gym clothes out of his backpack. 

“You’d be fine in what you’re wearing now,” Annabeth shook her head. At the thought, she turned around to face him, her eyes landing on the back of his shirt reflected in the mirror above the dresser. “By the way— the shirts?”

“Huh?”

“How did you guys get the shirts so quickly?”

“Oh,” Percy laughed, “we already had them, actually.”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Well, Connor had the idea that we should put together a little cookout or something for the fourteenth— you know, to celebrate the final rankings,” he shrugged, slipping out of his tennis shoes. “We thought the shirts would be a fun surprise, so we asked Hazel for help and she used the screen-printer on campus to make them for us. We were planning to save them, but this trip felt like as good a reason as any to break them in.”

She stared for a moment before she gathered her own things, her brow still creased in bewilderment as she began to make her way toward the bathroom. “You and Connor being friends is dangerous,” Annabeth muttered as she squeezed past him, ignoring his amused laugh as she closed the door behind her.

After quickly changing into more suitable workout clothes, Annabeth emerged from the bathroom to find that Percy had also changed and was in the process of tying his shoes. She slipped her own sneakers on quickly, before digging her water bottle out of her duffel bag and turning back toward Percy. “Ready?”

“Yep. Want me to hold the key?”

She nodded, passing the keycard to him. He grabbed his phone from where it had been laying beside the jeans that he’d just changed out of and slid them both into the pocket of his shorts before opening the door. They walked out into the hall in silence. Annabeth couldn’t quite put her finger on why the entire situation felt so strange; all she knew was that she was going to kill Connor.

Things relaxed a bit once they made it to the gym. She would never admit to watching, but it was kind of incredible to observe Percy in his element. Seeing him in the pool had been one thing— while it had been an obviously impressive show of athleticism and skill, seeing him out of water was an entirely new experience. He was more focused than she’d ever seen him before, eyes intense and movements precise. It took a considerable (and embarrassing) amount of effort to tear her eyes away and focus on her own workout. 

Percy didn’t seem to be in the mood for talking and that suited her fine. They each worked through their own abbreviated routines, and by the time Annabeth was beginning to feel the fatigue from the day’s events compounding with the workout, Percy was replacing the free weights on the rack and starting a cool down stretch. She joined him on the mats, taking special care to focus on stretching her arms, back, and traps to hopefully prevent any lingering soreness or tension. 

At one point, as she turned her head to stretch her neck, she made eye contact with Percy and realized he seemed to be staring. “What is it?” she asked, suddenly feeling self conscious. 

“Nothing,” he shook his head as he bent over to roll up the yoga mat he’d been using. “I just… your shoulders. They’re kind of insane.”

One hand drifted up to rest on the base of her neck, as if she might be able to cover herself. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“It’s not a bad thing,” Percy laughed. He gestured toward her feet and she stepped off of the yoga mat she’d been standing on so that he could roll it up as well. “I’ve just never really noticed.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” she scoffed, picking her water bottle up off of the floor as Percy placed the mats back into the rack on the wall of the gym. “You and your one-percent body fat.”

He rolled his eyes as she walked past him, pulling the door open and stepping out into the hallway. “That’s not true and you know it.”

“Sorry,” she laughed dryly, twisting the cap off of her water bottle, “two percent, then.”

“I was just trying to give you a compliment, Beth,” he sighed. “We’re professionals here, right?”

Annabeth grumbled, taking a sip of water before she replaced the cap. “I guess.”

“Well,” Percy shrugged, leaning forward to press the call button on the elevator, “thanks for coming with me anyway. I really needed to decompress after all of that back at the arena— seemed like maybe you did, too.”

Annabeth glanced over, surprise evident in her features. She hadn’t thought much of it when Percy had suggested that they hit the gym, but something he’d told her a long time ago came flooding back to the surface at his comment. “Don’t let Luke bother you,” she said quietly. “He’s an asshole.”

He sighed again as the elevator chimed and the door slid open. “I wasn’t bothered by him, Annabeth,” he said as they both stepped into the lift. As the door closed, she realized just how deeply creased his brow had become. “I was pissed off. I can’t believe he’d actually talk to you like that. Right there in front of people, too. He’s just— God, someone should really—” 

“Percy, it’s okay” Annabeth interrupted, resting a hand on his arm. “I mean, it’s not okay. But it’s fine. I’ve managed to avoid actually having to talk to him for years; it was bound to happen eventually.” She gave his arm a quick squeeze, offering him a smile that she hoped was more appreciative than pitying. 

“He won’t get another chance,” Percy shook his head, completely unfazed by her attempt to calm him. “I’m not letting him get anywhere near you.”

Annabeth’s cheeks felt a bit warm. “Well, he did say that they’re pulling out of the tournament, so they’re probably leaving anyway. Seriously, Percy,” she said, letting her hand fall away as the elevator arrived at the sixth floor, “I really appreciate you stepping up for me, but I don’t want you to stress yourself out over him. He’s not worth it.”

“No,” he scoffed, “he’s definitely not.” They stepped out of the elevator and walked toward their room. “You’re really okay, though?”

She hesitated, searching for the right thing to say as Percy fished the keycard out of his pocket. “No,” Annabeth said finally. “No, I guess I’m still kind of upset about it. But it would’ve been a lot worse if you hadn’t been there. I’m glad I wasn’t alone.”

Percy glanced over as he slid the key into the slot and the lock clicked. “Yeah, well, you shouldn’t have been alone with that creep, ever.”

She followed him into the room, feeling a little bit like she’d just been slapped. Her face fell, her feet coming to a stop just inside the door as she watched him settle onto the end of the bed closest to the door, pulling off his shoes. “I was just a kid, Percy,” Annabeth stated, defensive even though her voice was quiet and thin. “I didn’t know what I was—”

Her voice died in her throat as Percy looked up, his eyes fixed in realization. They stayed like that, staring at each other in silence until he finally rose to his feet and stepped toward her. Without warning, he pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms over her shoulders and holding her tightly against him. One hand rested, firm but gentle, on the back of her neck and she could feel him shaking his head slowly. 

“That’s not what I meant,” he said quietly, his mouth close to her ear. Her arms felt heavy, her entire body seeming to go a bit rigid at the unexpected closeness. “No, you shouldn’t have been alone with him— but you didn’t do anything wrong. He was in a position to take advantage of you and he abused it. Nothing that happened was your fault, Beth. None of it.”

Annabeth felt her throat tightening uncomfortably, her jaw clenching in an attempt to keep her lip from quivering. She remembered that day that she’d told her father what had happened and why she wanted to leave the Castellans’ gym. She remembered how he’d blamed her for being stupid and accused her of making things up. She remembered how small she’d felt while she’d listened to him refusing to hear her out, and how she would have given anything for someone to hold her like this and tell her that it wasn’t her fault. 

“I’m so sorry,” Percy muttered. “I never meant to—”

“I know.”

After another moment, Percy relaxed and his hands settled on her upper arms as he took a step back and eyed her carefully. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t,” she assured him. Her eyes were glued to the front of his shirt, unable to meet his gaze. “I know it probably sounds stupid but… I don’t know. I guess that even though I can logically recognize it wasn’t my fault, sometimes I still need to be reminded.”

Percy gave her arms a gentle squeeze before he stepped back. “I’ll remind you as many times as you need.” 

There was a bit of awkward tension lingering in the air as she made her way to the other side of the room and dug fresh clothes out of her suitcase. As she turned to walk back to the bathroom, Percy reached out and caught her wrist. 

“Hey,” he said with a smile. The tension seemed to melt away in an instant. Every bit of the anger that had been so apparent in his eyes as they’d walked back from the gym was gone, replaced by something so undeniably warm that it almost seemed to wrap itself around her. “You’re a badass, Annabeth Chase.”

She tugged her arm free with a laugh, before she disappeared into the bathroom.

-

Surprisingly, Annabeth and Percy were the first of the crew to make it to the lobby. Truthfully, she’d been expecting Coach to be pacing a line into the floor, insisting that they were late even though they definitely weren’t, but the hall was empty when they walked in. They settled side by side onto a bench that directly faced the elevator bay, talking quietly while they waited. 

“Did you really go to the guys’ apartment yesterday?” Annabeth asked, tilting her head toward him. “It’s such a dump.”

“No way, it’s great,” Percy shook his head. To her surprise, he didn’t seem to be joking at all. “Connor has this really sweet bean bag chair—”

“Ah, okay,” she shook her head, reaching out to pat his leg lightly. “Let me stop you right there; I’ve heard enough.”

Percy grinned and had just opened his mouth to say something else when one of the elevator doors opened and loud laughter split the air. Piper stumbled forward, one hand on her stomach as she continued laughing, with Connor right behind her. They were both smiling as they walked toward the bench and Annabeth couldn’t help but feel surprised that they seemed to be getting along.

Piper was gorgeous even on a bad day and now looked even more beautiful than she had earlier that afternoon. Her soft, shiny hair framed her face and perfectly flowed over her shoulders and the top of the bright yellow sundress that contrasted perfectly with her warm skin. At her side, Connor, who was still wearing the ‘MCLEAN’ shirt he’d had on at the arena, held a hand up in greeting as they came to a stop in front of Percy and Annabeth. 

“Have a good afternoon?” Percy asked as he rose to his feet and held out a hand for Annabeth. She accepted the assistance with a soft smile, hardly blinking an eye as Percy rested a hand on her back automatically. 

“I took a nap,” Piper announced. “It was fantastic.”

“And while she did that, I watched Top Gun,” Connor nodded, shrugging. “It was… alright.”

Annabeth laughed. “Sounds like a good use of time.”

“What about you?” he asked, his brow twitching slightly. “What’d you two get up to?

“We went to the gym,” Percy answered. “Just a short workout. When we got back to our room, we both took a nap, too.”

“God, you guys are lazy,” Connor shook his head. “What’s with all the napping? Aren’t you all supposed to be world class athletes or whatever?”

“Yes, and it takes a lot out of you,” Annabeth reminded him. “But I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

He sighed, pulling his phone out of his back pocket and glancing at the screen. “Where’s Hedge? We gotta get some food in Chase— she gets really bitchy when she’s hangry.”

Annabeth’s mouth gaped in offense but everyone else laughed. She shook it off, pretending to pout though it earned her little sympathy from her friends.

The elevator chimed again and a family with two small children made their way out slowly. When they’d finally gotten out of the way, Hedge appeared, huffing as he walked up to them. “Damn kid pressed every button from the seventh floor to the lobby,” he said, annoyed. Hedge adjusted the baseball cap on his head as he walked past the group. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Percy volunteered the use of the rental car again and Annabeth had been the fastest to claim the passenger seat— though she kind of doubted that anyone would have fought her too hard on it. They were just beginning to merge onto the highway when Percy reached across the console, resting his hand on her leg as casual as anything. He shot her a quick smirk, just enough to tell her that he was enjoying this whole thing just a little too much. 

By the time they arrived at the taqueria, Hedge had heard all about Connor’s state record (which he impressively still held, even though he hadn’t participated in any events in almost three years) and Piper had regaled them all with stories of her previous teammate. Annabeth had heard it all over the years, but it was just as amusing the second (or, in some cases, third) time around. 

Dinner itself was relatively uneventful, with the highlight of the meal being listening to Coach attempt to order his meal in Spanish before ultimately giving up. The food was delicious, especially after such a long and exhausting day but Annabeth was glad to see the plates being cleared, knowing that the end of the meal meant that they could finally return to their hotel for the evening. It was still pretty early, but with the day that they’d all had and the fact that they’d have to wake up early the next morning, everyone seemed more than happy to call it a night. 

When they reached the third floor, Piper stepped out and Annabeth shot one last warning look at Connor before the elevator door closed behind them. Percy just chuckled to himself but didn’t say anything, and Hedge seemed too distracted to have noticed the exchange at all. The elevator came to a stop on the sixth floor and she and Percy said their goodbyes before they stepped out.

“Get some rest, Chase!” Hedge called after them, causing Annabeth to whip her head back toward the elevator. “No funny business— I’m onto you, Mr. Sneaky Jackson.”

Annabeth was still staring slack-jawed when the doors finally closed. “Oh my God,” she muttered, her neck searing with an embarrassed flush. She brought one hand to her forehead, hopefully shielding her beet-red face from view. Percy just laughed to himself, shaking his head in amusement as he continued toward the room. After a few more seconds, Annabeth shook herself free from the mortification and managed to follow after him. 

“What time do you need to be up?” Percy asked once they were inside, so casual that she briefly wondered if the exchange with Hedge had been a figment of her imagination. “I wanna make sure you don’t have a repeat of this morning.”

“We need to be at the arena by eight,” she answered after a moment, her face still feeling slightly warm. “And if you don’t mind driving, that would give us a little more time since we wouldn’t need to catch the shuttle.”

“Obviously I don’t mind,” he shrugged, pulling a pair of sweatpants out of his bag. “You gonna change out here? I’ll go in the bathroom.”

Annabeth glanced around for the pajamas she’d discarded earlier. “Yeah, go ahead,” she nodded as she finally spotted them in the chair beside the window. She had just picked the shirt up when the bathroom door clicked closed and she cursed under her breath. Why had she brought this shirt? She hadn’t given it much thought when she’d thrown it into her suitcase three days earlier, but the idea of wearing the borrowed/inherited swim team t-shirt now that Percy was around felt more than a little awkward.

Knowing that he would be out soon, she figured that there wasn’t enough time to stress over it too much and changed into the shirt quickly, tossing her jeans into the chair as she shimmied into yoga pants. A few seconds later, the bathroom door opened, though Percy didn’t immediately emerge. 

The faucet turned on a moment later and she assumed he must have opened the door just to let her know that he’d finished changing. At least, she hoped that’s all it was, since she was already halfway across the room. When she reached the door, her feet froze for a moment. Maybe it was stupid, but she hadn’t even consided the fact that he might not have a shirt on, and the sight was… surprising to say the least. 

Thankfully, he looked a lot less intimidating with toothpaste foam dripping from the corner of his mouth and Annabeth was able to recover quickly as she stepped up beside Percy and reached for her own toothbrush. He eyed her for a moment before he spit into the sink and wiped his mouth. 

Annabeth kept her eyes on the toothpaste as she carefully squeezed the tube over the bristles before bringing the brush to her mouth. She turned, leaning back against the counter. Percy looked her over once before he reached for one of the plastic cups on the edge of the sink and rinsed quickly. 

“That’s my shirt,” he noted, setting the cup to the side. 

Annabeth shook her head before she spit toothpaste into the sink and looked up. Her eyes met his reflection in the mirror, standing just a foot or so behind her as he smirked. “Technically, it’s my shirt. You gave it to me, remember?”

“I do,” he nodded, taking a step forward. He ran his finger across the shoulders, over the heat-pressed vinyl that spelled out ‘JACKSON’ in bold letters. His eyes stayed trained on that spot for a moment and Annabeth couldn’t have moved if she’d wanted to. Finally, he looked up at the mirror again. “Guess it’s only fair that if I’m wearing your name, you’re wearing mine, right?” 

Jumping at an excuse to get out of trying to come up with a response to his question, Annabeth resumed brushing her teeth. Percy quickly ran a hand through his hair but didn’t say anything else as he finally turned and walked out of the bathroom. 

When she’d finished brushing her teeth and had quickly washed her face, Annabeth flipped the lights off and walked back out into the room. Percy had already settled in and was propped up against the headboard, looking at something on his phone. She’d just climbed into bed herself when he exhaled a laugh quietly.

“A-ha,” he said with a smirk, turning his phone screen toward her. “There it is.”

She squinted her eyes as she peered over at the phone but she couldn’t make out any of the text on the screen. “What is it?”

Percy looked at his phone again and began to read. “‘Olympic hopefuls Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson share heartfelt romantic reunion at final FIVB tournament of the season’,” he said in a mock-broadcaster voice. “Not too bad— although ‘reunion’ feels like a bit of a dramatization, don’t you think? Makes it sound like we’ve been separated for years or something.”

“Is there actually a post about that?” Annabeth asked in disbelief. “Like, how did anyone even know you were here?”

“Well, you talked to that reporter, right? Maybe she tipped someone off.”

“Where are you reading that?”

“It’s on one of the swim forums,” Percy answered. A second later, his smile widened. “Hey, check it out.” He tossed the phone to her gently and she got a look at the screen finally. 

Someone had shared a photo in the thread, a surprisingly clear shot of herself and Percy, apparently taken just moments after she and Piper had walked off of the court. A strange sense of deja vu began to swell in her chest as she looked at the picture. She was suddenly reminded of her last tournament in Atlanta and the picture that Connor had sent to her then — the first time that she’d seen herself and Percy from an outsider’s view — and this felt strikingly similar. 

As she looked at the picture now, she could only think about how they wore matching smiles and she thought that maybe he might even look a little proud. It was so believable that she could almost buy it herself.

She took the time to skim the article that had been linked in the thread as well, surprised that Megan Reilly had been able to turn the piece around so quickly. It was a decent snippet that probably wouldn’t make any headlines, but Annabeth’s comments would certainly look good when the University inevitably decided to syndicate the post in its newsletter. 

“Well,” Annabeth sighed, tossing the phone back, “another win for Brunner’s master plan, huh?”

Percy smirked, locking his screen and plugging the phone into the charger. “Go Eagles.”

-

TOURNAMENT DAY FOUR - SUNDAY

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 63

Two alarms rang out simultaneously at exactly five after seven. Annabeth got to hers first, silencing the annoying chime quickly. As she fumbled in the darkness to find the switch for the lamp, the other alarm continued to ring. Eventually the soft light illuminated the room and a wave of confusion washed over her as she realized that the reason Percy’s alarm had not been silenced was because he wasn’t there. 

She reached out to turn off the alarm before she got to her feet, looking for a note or some other clue that explained where he’d gone. His backpack was still resting on the floor beside the dresser, overflowing with clothes but otherwise untouched. She walked to the bathroom and found nothing out of the ordinary there either. Finally, the obvious answer seemed to dawn on her and she hurried back across the room to check her cell phone. 

Almost as soon as she’d picked up the phone, she heard the keycard being inserted into the lock and a moment later, Percy entered the room. “Morning,” he smiled as he stepped inside. He had a paper bag in one hand and a couple of bananas in the other and he set them on the dresser. “Glad to see you’re awake.”

“Where were you?”

“Well,” he smiled, “I woke up at five and went down to the pool; put in about an hour or so. Then I came back up and took a shower and since you were still completely comatose, I decided to go get us some breakfast.” He gestured toward the bag on the dresser. “I just dropped the other bag off with Piper. Connor is really not a morning person.”

“No, he’s not,” Annabeth laughed. “You’ve had a busy morning,” she noted, stepping closer and eyeing the bag. “What’d you bring me?”

“Smoothie bowl,” Percy answered as he opened the bag and pulled out the two plastic containers. They were filled about halfway with what she assumed to be Greek yogurt and topped with different arrangements of fruit and other toppings. “I got one strawberry and one blueberry— your pick.”

“Strawberry,” she answered immediately. Annabeth didn’t have a particular preference, but she knew that he did— even if he had offered her the choice. Percy handed her the bowl that was topped with fresh strawberries, bananas, and almonds and finished off with a drizzle of honey. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” he said, reaching into the bag again and pulling out two spoons. He handed one to her before he moved to sit down on the bed and Annabeth joined him, crossing her legs beneath her before she began to pry the lid off of the bowl. “It was mostly selfish— I just didn’t want to come back empty-handed.”

“Either way,” she shrugged, bringing a spoonful of yogurt and strawberries to her mouth, “it was nice. It was especially nice of you to think of Piper and Connor.” 

“Yeah,” he said, smirking. Percy was still looking at his bowl but the grin on his face was widening. He chuckled to himself before he glanced over at her. “I need to tell you something but I don’t know how you’re going to feel about it.”

“Um,” Annabeth frowned, feeling immediately disarmed by the comment despite the jovial, mischievous smirk on Percy’s face. “Okay?”

“So, when I went to drop off the other bag of food,” he began, looking back down and stirring the blueberries and granola into the yogurt, “I saw inside their room obviously— and I just thought that maybe you’d be interested in knowing that one of the beds had definitely not been slept in.”

Annabeth’s jaw hung open for several seconds. “Shut up,” she said tonelessly. “You’re fucking with me.”

“I am not,” Percy smirked, taking a bite. “And I’m not typically one for assumptions but—”

“Oh my God,” she laughed in disbelief. “Oh my God.”

“Hope I didn’t ruin your appetite.”

“Oh my God.”

Percy laughed, wiping a bit of yogurt from the corner of his mouth. “Is that all you have to say?”

Annabeth stared back at Percy for another moment before she turned her attention back to the bowl. “I can’t think about this anymore,” she said, cutting a slice of banana with the side of her spoon. “I simply do not have the strength to consider the implications of Piper and Connor sharing a bed. I have too much to do today.”

“You do,” Percy nodded in agreement. “Which is why you need a decent breakfast, Diner Girl— so eat up.”

“Do you ever get tired of being so accommodating?”

“For you?” he asked, looking to the side. “Never.”

-

Annabeth Chase would go to her grave swearing that she really did try to keep her face neutral as she and Percy approached the three other members of their party that were already assembled in the lobby that morning. Even her most valiant of efforts did not seem to suffice however, and she received a quick elbow to the ribs from Percy, accompanied by a teasing glance. 

“What?” she hissed under her breath. “Am I supposed to just play dumb?”

“They’ll tell you if they want you to know, Beth,” Percy said calmly, slipping his hand into hers. “Don’t meddle.”

She pulled her hand away dramatically, pouting slightly. “I thought you were on my side.”

Percy rolled his eyes, wrapping his arm over her shoulders as they walked. “I am always on your side,” he sighed in faux exasperation. “But they’re entitled to their privacy, too.”

“Well, that’s stupid.”

He tightened his arm, tugging her closer and pressing his lips to her temple. “Play nice, Diner Girl.”

“Late again, Chase,” Hedge called, far louder than necessary since they were only a few feet away at that point. “Enough with the canoodling— hands to yourself, Mr. Jackson.”

“Is he always like this?” Percy asked in a stage whisper as he let his arm fall away. 

“Never had a bunch of handsy boys in tow before,” Hedge muttered, popping a piece of gum into his mouth before he turned and started toward the door. “Let’s go.”

Annabeth kept an eye on Piper and Connor as they all loaded into the SUV again, but nothing seemed all that unusual. Connor crawled back to the third row, Hedge and Piper took the middle seats, and Annabeth settled into the passenger side. It was quiet aside from the sound of Coach smacking his gum, and Annabeth had to fight the urge to ask one of the dozens of questions that were circulating in her mind. 

She was just about to open her mouth when Percy reached forward and turned on the radio, a bit louder than he normally would have in an obvious attempt to silence her. Annabeth shot him a glare that he seemed to feel more than see, laughing to himself as he smiled and kept his eyes facing forward. “Ready for today?”

“I guess,” she muttered, crossing her arms as she slouched down in her seat. 

“You’ve gotta cheer up.”

“You’re being mean to me.”

Percy sighed. “You’re impossible.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“Yeah? Well you’re—”

“Can you two shut up?” Connor called from the back seat. “You’re giving me a migraine.”

Percy laughed — counting a win for himself, no doubt — and brought his full attention back to the road. He bobbed his head along to the radio, a self-satisfied smirk on his lips. They pulled into the lot at the arena just a few minutes later, and Connor made a big show of climbing all the way from the third row, griping the entire walk from the car to the gym. 

When they entered, the courts were prepped and the other team had already begun to warm up. The two women on the opposite end of the gym weren’t complete strangers to Annabeth and Piper, but they’d only played them a handful of times that season. Annabeth watched as they ran a few drills, trying to get a feel for their go-to responses and sets, and she could tell that Piper was doing the same. 

She was just about to shed her jumpsuit when she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Hey.” Annabeth turned, looking up at Percy who was already giving her a warm look. “You’re going to do great, okay? Don’t let them get into your head. Any of them. Got it?”

His meaning was clear even if he hadn’t said it directly. Percy was concerned that the run-in with Luke had rocked her enough that it might still be eating at her, and to be completely honest, he wasn’t all that far off base. Annabeth had spent a fair bit of the morning replaying Luke’s words, knowing that they weren’t true and being unable to shake them anyway. 

Leaving the Castellans’ gym wasn’t the reason that she and Piper had yet to work their way into the top fifteen and, realistically, she knew that — but knowing that Luke’s current team had been sitting comfortably inside the top ten for the better part of the last two seasons (so much so that they could afford to pull out of the last tournament of the year without fear of falling in rank) made it a bit harder to reject that nagging lie in the moment. 

Still, she knew that letting Luke’s words gnaw at her was exactly why he’d been so bold as to approach her the previous afternoon. It had been his goal to disarm her, and if she continued to let those thoughts in, he’d succeed. Annabeth gave Percy a nod, stepping forward to wrap her arms around his neck. There was a rush of adrenaline that accompanied the way he immediately responded to the embrace, his own arms winding around her waist and squeezing her close for just a moment. 

“How sweet.”

Annabeth exhaled. She should’ve known, should’ve expected it. Still, the voice met her ears like nails on a chalkboard as she slowly unraveled herself from Percy and turned to face her former coach again. “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice sounding much more certain than it had the afternoon before. He’d caught her off guard then and he’d known it. But this time, he was just an annoyance. “I thought you pulled Silena and Julia.”

“I did.” He nodded, pushing his hands into the pockets of the pale blue Nike jacket that nearly matched the color of his cold, distant eyes. “They’re back at the hotel. But I couldn’t miss this.”

Percy’s eyes were fixed on Annabeth in a way that told her that she need only say the word and he’d step in. Despite the obvious sternness of his brow and the tightness in his jaw, she knew that he wouldn’t intervene unless she wanted him to. Percy was just good in that way— knowing when to let her stand on her own just as well as he knew the signs of when she needed him. She wasn’t entirely sure when exactly they’d formed such an arrangement, only that the unspoken language was so wholly theirs that no one else could ever interpret it. 

“I would think that this would be at the bottom of your list of things to be concerned with,” she said, crossing her arms. Percy’s eyes, a shade of green so intense it was almost unnatural, shifted to Luke. 

Luke grinned. It was a crooked shape, curling at the edges of his mouth and pulling at the lines of his face. She wondered how long it had been since he’d had a smile that met his eyes. “On the contrary,” he said simply. “It would seem that I have more reason than ever to be interested in your performance, Annie. Today could very well be the end of the line for you, you know.”

The use of the old nickname stung worse than anything else he’d said. It pulled her out of the present, dropping her into a hazy memory of the Castellan Training Center. Five letters, two syllables— that’s all it took to flood her mind with blinking fluorescents and the scent of camphor balm, faded carpet and a sign-out list that she’d been stupid enough to sign long before actually following him into the back office. She’d fallen so deeply into the memory that she didn’t notice him lean closer. 

“And if you thought that I was going to miss that, you’re even more naive than I thought.”

Percy surged forward, his hands pushing against Luke’s shoulders roughly. “Get the fuck away from her.” His voice left no room for dispute, a tone so commanding that it jarred Annabeth back to the present as Luke staggered back a few steps. 

“Percy, no,” she said urgently, grabbing his arm. But it was too late. Even the minor altercation had captured the attention of the officials who were standing only a few feet away and were already hurrying over. Annabeth looked over, holding up a hand in defense. “Please, it was just a misunderstanding,” she explained. “Everything’s fine.”

“Fine?” Luke scoffed, adjusting himself as if Percy had truly done any sort of damage. “He practically attacked me.”

The two officials that had come to a stop in front of them were joined by Hedge who looked more agitated than Annabeth had ever seen him. His face was beet red all the way up to his ears. All three men looked at Annabeth for confirmation.

“He didn’t attack anyone, I swear,” Annabeth shook her head. “Luke came over with the intention of instigating a fight— if anyone needs to be taken out, it’s him.”

“Yeah, I’ll take him out,” Percy muttered. 

“Percy,” Annabeth hissed, shooting him a glare. She understood his anger, felt plenty of it on her own, but this was neither the time or the place for such a show of gusto.

“That’s quite enough,” the shorter of the officials interrupted. “We’ll need to escort you both off of the premises immediately.”

“What? No,” she stammered, but Hedge placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Let ‘em go, Chase.”

“But Coach—”

“It’s okay, Beth,” Percy interjected. He’d finally stopped glaring at Luke and had turned his eyes toward her. “I don’t want any problems. I’ll wait in the car.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t see why I’m being forced to leave as well,” Luke scowled. “I’m the victim of this assault.”

Annabeth’s jaw clenched tight. “You weren’t assaulted, you lying—”

“Miss Chase, I am afraid that if you do not settle down, we’ll be forced to disqualify your team from today’s matches,” the other official said. “We don’t need a display here today. Are we in agreement?”

Annabeth looked at Hedge, then at Piper and Connor over his shoulder, standing a few yards away with concerned looks on their faces. Finally she looked at Percy, whose expression was so apologetic she could barely stand it. It filled her chest with rage to know that he was going to spend the next several hours beating himself up over this when he hadn’t even done anything wrong. 

She managed to pull her eyes away long enough to meet the stare of the official that was still awaiting her response. “I understand.”

-

The car ride to the airport was silent. 

Annabeth was so sick to her stomach that she thought for sure they’d have to pull over. It shouldn’t have surprised anyone when the buzzer sounded and the other team rushed together in a celebratory hug. It shouldn’t have felt like such a slap in the face, not when she’d spent the better part of the match so stuck in her own head that she could hardly focus. Everything in front of her felt distant, like her body was on autopilot and her reflexes just weren’t quite quick enough. Each time the ball hit the sand at her feet, she felt the weight of every eye in the arena.

Piper was as understanding as she could’ve been, but her anger was plain in her eyes. She was far warmer than Annabeth deserved, doing her best not to let her own disappointment show. The end of the game seemed like a lifetime ago. It was as if she’d teleported out of the arena as soon as the match had finished and she hadn’t been fully aware again until she realized that they’d arrived at the airport.

Hedge had already gone inside the terminal and Piper and Connor were sitting on a bench beside the doors, but Annabeth stood in silence just a few yards away from the counter where Percy was in the process of returning the rental car.

When Percy slipped his arm around her waist, she wasn’t even fazed. She leaned into the touch, a lump in her throat that threatened to choke her at any moment. Slowly, the four of them made it through security and met up with Hedge at their gate. The mood was so different than it usually was when they were getting ready to return home, and she knew that it was entirely her fault. 

Annabeth stared at her feet, leg bouncing nervously as the gate agent announced that they would begin boarding soon. She felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up in surprise. 

“Can we take a walk?” Connor asked, holding out a hand for her. Hedge must’ve begun to object because he quickly added, “We won’t go far, Coach. Promise.”

She sighed but nodded, letting him drag her to her feet as she followed him up the concourse with no destination in mind. As hard as it was to look at Piper, it was equally hard to face Connor. He’d always been her biggest supporter and had never once judged any of her shortcomings, but this felt different somehow. 

“Piper’s not mad,” he said finally. “She’s upset, but not with you. Well, not directly, anyway.”

Annabeth scoffed. “She’s pissed, Connor, and she has every right to be. I fucked up.”

“You did your best—”

“No, I didn’t.” She could feel the emotion roiling in her chest: a ball of anger and pain and resentment and embarrassment that made her so nauseous she felt her feet beginning to slow. “We lost—”

“You didn’t lose.”

“Third place isn’t enough, Connor,” Annabeth said, her hands trembling slightly. “Not at this point in the season; not when we have so much at stake. We lost today and it was my fault.”

Connor was trying to find the right thing to say. They both seemed aware that he was coming up short, but it wasn’t deterring him in the slightest. “It’s not your fault that Luke got into your head,” he said carefully, a hefty tone of resentment around the name as it left his lips. “You were just distracted.”

“I can’t afford to be distracted,” she said, exasperated. “That’s just it; don’t you get it? This isn’t supposed to happen— I shouldn’t completely lose my ability to focus just because of some stupid comments that Luke made.” Annabeth brought her hands to her face as Connor pulled them out of the middle of the walkway, pausing in an alcove near a vending machine. She didn’t try to hold back the tears now; Connor had seen far worse anyway. “I can’t believe I let him get to me.”

“Chase, I’m not gonna let you blame yourself for this.”

She dropped her hands, her voice tight. “Then who the hell am I supposed to blame? Everyone is walking on eggshells around me and I’m so sick of it. You’re not mad; Percy’s not mad. Piper’s not mad because she feels sorry for me, and she doesn’t even know why she’s supposed to feel sorry. She should be mad, she deserves to be mad— I want her to be mad!”

“Piper isn’t mad at you because she knows you,” Connor soothed, gripping her shoulders gently. Annabeth felt the urge to recoil but fought it, her eyes glued on the ground. “She doesn’t need the full story. She knows you well enough to trust that if something happened to make you play at less than your best, she’s not going to hold that against you. Give her a little more credit than that.”

“I’m not selling her short,” she shook her head as she wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, her gaze still cast down toward the floor. “I’m just so sick of everyone looking at me like I’m going to fall apart.”

“Hey,” he said, more serious now. One of his hands moved away from her shoulder and lifted her chin to look up at him. “Are you kidding me? No one is feeling sorry for you, Annabeth. We’re worried about you because we love you and we know that what happened out there today is out of the ordinary. If something is hurting you, it’s hurting us. All of us.” Connor tugged her in, enfolding her in his arms. “Chase, I promise you that no one is thinking that you’re going to crumble. I’ve never been more proud of you than I was today.”

Annabeth rested her head against his chest. Something about Connor always felt like a bike ride on the first day of summer, a perfect sort of bliss that he alone was the master of. It was as if he’d found a way to bottle the magic of golden hour and late night laughter and had it at the ready anytime she needed it. Being held like that, with his chin resting on top of her head and his arms languid around her shoulders, made her feel the way that they’d felt when they were seventeen and invincible, a protective spell falling over her with every word that he uttered.

After a moment, she sniffed. “Really?”

She felt his smile, his jaw muscles moving as he exhaled slightly in a laugh. “Really.” He squeezed her one more time before he added, “Although, between you and me, I was kind of hoping Perce would knock him on his ass.”

Annabeth laughed, a real laugh this time. “Me too.”

Connor held her like that for a few more seconds before he began to lower his arms. He eyed her carefully. “You ready to walk back?”

“I don’t know if I can sit by Piper the entire way home,” she shook her head. “I know that I need to talk to her; I have to talk to her and apologize but—”

“I know,” he said, frowning as he nodded in understanding. “Listen, just take my seat, alright? I’ll sit with Piper and you can stay with Percy. Is that okay?”

She exhaled, nodding. “Yes. Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Annababe,” he said, offering her a smile. He elbowed her gently as he tilted his head in the direction of their gate. “Now, let’s go before we miss our flight and I’m stuck in this stupid airport with you all night.”

Annabeth sighed and followed Connor back out into the main concourse. They stopped in one of the shops on the way, gathering a small selection of snacks that they hoped would serve as a reasonable peace offering for their friends. As they walked, Annabeth eyed Connor. She thought about how quickly he’d offered up his seat and how willing he’d been to swap with her. 

“Hey,” she said, nudging him with her shoulder. “Is something going on with you and Piper?”

Connor turned his head, surprise flashing in his features for only a moment before he looked forward again, peeling the wrapper on a Snickers as he walked. His smile was crooked and sneaky as he took a bite. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 62

The day started with a phone call. 

“Hello?” Annabeth said groggily, bringing the phone to her ear. Her eyes were still squeezed closed in an attempt to block out the merciless Monday morning light. 

“Annabeth Chase?” a woman’s voice asked. It sounded familiar but she wasn’t quite sure where she’d heard it before. “This is Chloe Roth with SF Monthly’s sports coverage team. Is this a bad time?” 

With the sudden recognition of why the woman’s voice sounded so familiar, Annabeth sat up. “No, it’s fine,” she answered, rubbing her eyes and trying to sound more awake than she felt. “I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to look at the piece you sent over; it was a busy weekend. But I’ll make sure I—“

“Actually,” Chloe interrupted, “that’s why I called.” There was a brief pause, the sound of papers shuffling on the other end of the line. “I wanted to give you a heads up that my editor has asked for a few last minute additions to the piece in light of this past weekend’s tournament and all that went on both on and off the court.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Annabeth had expected this would have to happen sooner or later, even though she’d certainly thought that she’d have a bit more time to recover before anyone came around asking questions. “Okay.”

“I wanted to give you the opportunity to comment, if you would like,” the reporter said carefully. “I know that we didn’t end things in the best place at our last meeting and I accept full responsibility for that. I was unprofessional in my approach and it wasn’t fair to you. So if you don’t care to provide a comment, I will be more than understanding of that— I’m sure that I’m not very high on your list of people that you’d care to discuss this with.”

“No,” Annabeth answered, not pulling any punches, “you’re not. But if you’re going to write about what happened, you might as well have the truth.”

“So… you do wish to comment, then?”

Annabeth considered her words before responding. “The incident that happened before the semifinals was a matter of miscommunication,” she said carefully. “Things got out of hand and the FIVB officials thought it would be best if both Percy and Coach Castellan were not in the arena, so they were asked to leave. That’s all.”

“Would you say that this altercation had a bearing on your performance yesterday?” Chloe asked gently. 

“Piper and I played our best,” Annabeth lied. “Sometimes you can go out onto the sand and give it your all and it’s not enough. We lost because we were playing a team that was better than us in that moment.”

“What do you say to the rumors that your team’s rank will be negatively affected by such an important loss?”

“I can’t speak to that. The final rankings won’t be released for a few more weeks, and until then,” she sighed, “it’s a waiting game. Piper and I had a great season. We’re more than good enough to represent our country in Greece later this summer— now we just have to hope that the FIVB agrees and that our rank will reflect that.”

The clacking of a keyboard continued and Annabeth could practically see Chloe’s fingers dancing quickly across the letters as she typed each word. “And if it’s not enough? If you’re not ranked in the top fifteen?”

“Then we won’t be going to Greece,” Annabeth answered. Her stomach twisted at the thought, knowing that it was more likely now than ever that their name wouldn’t appear on that list. “At this point, there isn’t anything that can be done about that.”

“I understand,” Chloe said to herself. A moment passed before she spoke again. “I appreciate you speaking with me this morning, Annabeth.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“I will get these changes made quickly and have the revised copy sent over as soon as possible. We go to print at nine tomorrow,” Chloe explained quickly, “so if I haven’t heard from you before then, we’ll have to pull the story.”

For one brief moment, Annabeth considered that. It wouldn’t be the worst thing, she thought, if the story never saw the light of day. She wasn’t sure how much Chloe had actually been able to string together from their cut-short interview, but she couldn’t imagine that it made her look very good. And Percy had certainly made it seem like Luke would at least be mentioned in the article, which was already more association than Annabeth cared for. 

Still, she knew that it wouldn’t be worth Brunner’s wrath if the piece didn’t make it into the issue. While her own biases might make her feel like the story was a wash at best, Dr. Brunner (and several others at the University, it would seem) were all looking forward to the good press, and she couldn’t imagine that any of them would be very happy with losing the coverage. It was worth it, Annabeth told herself. She’d signed up for this, after all. 

Finally, she nodded to no one, rubbing her face sleepily. “I’ll keep an eye on my email.”

“Sounds good.” There was a brief pause as Chloe finished up whatever notes she was typing on her end. When the sound of keys clacking finally stopped, she sighed. “I want to apologize, again, for the way—”

“Seriously, Ms. Roth,” Annabeth sighed, rubbing her forehead, “I’d really rather not get into it again.”

“It’s just that— well, it’s very unusual for us to run a piece like this. Our highlight pieces are usually more focused on whatever the hot gossip is lately.” Annabeth opened her mouth to ask what that was supposed to mean, but Chloe continued talking before she got the chance. “You know, like, which 49er is getting divorced this week or whatever. And when I interview for those stories, it’s sort of part of our strategy to go for the ‘gotcha’ angle. Honestly I was surprised to hear that this story had been approved at all, but you know how it is— someone’s somebody owed someone a favor.”

Annabeth’s brow furrowed as she listened to Chloe’s explanation, turning over the new information. She sat up a little straighter. “Wait— the University didn’t arrange the interview?” 

She could practically hear Chloe’s frown through the phone. “I thought you knew that.”

“You said that you talked to Luke Castellan before our meeting,” Annabeth said, her stomach twisting. “Did Brunner tell you to do that?”

“Annabeth,” Chloe said carefully, “Mr. Castellan was the person that put us in touch with Dr. Brunner. He’s the one that submitted the lead for the piece to our editors.”

Her mouth felt so dry that she could barely form the words. “I see.”

There was another beat of silence, as if Chloe expected that Annabeth had more to say but the expectation seemed to dissolve quickly. “I won’t keep you, and I’m sorry for bothering you again this morning anyway,” she said, moving on as if the awkward exchange hadn’t happened at all. “I just wanted to make sure that I was able to give you a heads up. I’m going to try keep all of the details about Mr. Castellan to a minimum to avoid any conflict of interest for you, but I can’t make too many promises; it mostly comes down to what my editor decides.”

“I understand.”

“Well,” Chloe continued, her tone revealing her discomfort, “Thank you for talking to me this morning. And of course, I’ll look forward to hearing back from you.”

“Yeah, sure. No problem.”

“Take care, Annabeth.”

“You too.”

Annabeth ended the call and dropped her phone as she fell back against her pillows. Her mind was reeling with the revelation that the entire thing had been a sting set up by Luke, and his intentions were so completely transparent that she could barely even stomach it. She could practically see the way his mind had worked, noticing the coverage around the initial Instagram post and seizing his opportunity. 

He’d submitted the lead, knowing that the magazine would try to dig up the most damning angle possible and spring it on her while she was completely unsuspecting. Probably he’d been hoping that the attention would be too much for her and that she’d crack under the pressure. And then he’d waited— watched from a distance as she continued to compete, doing better than ever.

That had been when he’d walked back into her life, right? Luke had seemed to miraculously appear from thin air in the wake of their big win in Salt Lake, and again the morning before the semifinals. It couldn’t be a coincidence that she’d managed to successfully avoid him for years and now that she was so close to earning a spot in Athens, he was popping up everywhere. She’d been a fool for ever believing that it could have been anything other than manipulative.

She didn’t get to sleep in very often these days and even though her lazy morning off from work and practice had been interrupted with the rather unpleasant call, the extra hours of rest had helped her to recover from the crazed weekend trip. A nagging voice urged her to call Piper but Annabeth silenced it. They hadn’t spoken since they’d landed and Piper had immediately hurried off to the Uber that she’d ordered for herself, and if Annabeth knew her teammate at all, she’d bet that what Piper really wanted at the moment was some space. 

Unfortunately, that left her with little else to do that morning other than stare at the ceiling and replay every single second of the weekend. There were the obvious lows: the initial run-in with Luke, the altercation the following day, and of course, the devastating loss that had landed them in third place. 

Annabeth pulled a pillow over her face as she groaned, her chest tightening again with the weight of the news that Chloe had given her. It didn’t change anything, not really, but knowing the truth made the entire situation feel even more complicated than it already did. Luke hadn’t even known that her relationship with Percy was fake— his motive had been purely to try and get into her head.

Well, she wasn’t going to let him.

Even with the mountain of bad, she couldn’t help but think about all of the good that had happened over the course of the weekend. What had initially felt like an intimidating and awkward ordeal had turned into a surprisingly fun and comfortable rooming situation, and once the weirdness had worn off, she’d had a really good time in the moments off of the court. More than anything, she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Percy had shown up for her in a way that no one else ever had and she didn’t even know how to begin to thank him for that. 

Unfortunately, thinking about Percy caused Annabeth’s memory to flash back to another small fact that she’d attempted to bury: Connor and Piper. She rolled over, propping up on her elbows as she scrolled to her text thread with Connor and began to hastily type a new message. 

9:21 AM - ANNABETH:
I’ll buy you breakfast if you tell
me whats going on

9:22 AM - CONNOR:
Someone beat u to it ;)
[ATTACHMENT: 1 IMAGE]

Annabeth stared at the photo that accompanied Connor’s text — two paper coffee cups and an assortment of fruit and croissants spread out on a coffee table that Annabeth immediately recognized as belonging to Piper. She wasn’t sure if the picture was meant to inform her that Connor had spent the night at Piper’s condo, but that was certainly the implication Annabeth was getting.

9:25 AM - CONNOR:
I’m leaving soon though. I’ll come by after?

9:26 AM - ANNABETH:
Oh gee. If it’s not too much trouble
that’d be just swell

9:27 AM - CONNOR:
Your attitude is apalling

9:27 AM - ANNABETH:
*Appalling 

9:27 AM - CONNOR:
God we have to get you laid

-

“So… that’s it?” Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow. She held a pillow to her chest, her back pressed against the headboard of her bed as Connor paced the short length of the room. “You just talked?”

Connor rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t just talking,” he admitted, “but it’s not like that. She’s nice. Funny, too. I really liked hanging with her. I think she just needed to, you know, get it out of her system.”

Annabeth stared back in confusion, even less certain about what exactly had happened between her best friend and her teammate than she had been before Connor had begun to explain himself. “So are you two—”

“God, no,” Connor laughed. “Like I said, she just needed to blow off some steam.”

“I don’t know what that means, Connor.”

“It means we hooked up but it’s not serious.”

Annabeth considered that. “Does Piper know it’s not serious?”

“It was her idea, Chase,” Connor assured her. “Look, in Salt Lake it just kind of happened. We were watching a movie together and then we weren’t watching the movie anymore—”

“Gross.”

“—but last night, we just talked. She was upset about the tournament and didn’t want to be alone and it was already late so she asked me to sleep over, but that’s all we did: sleep.”

“Is she mad at me?” Annabeth asked nervously, tucking her chin down into the top of the pillow she was still hugging tightly.

Connor shook his head as he finally stopped pacing and pulled out her desk chair. He sat down backwards, resting his arms on the back of the chair as he swiveled to face her. “Not even a little bit.”

“She should be,” she grumbled. The guilt that she’d been feeling ever since that final buzzer twisted in her gut again. “I would be.”

“I didn’t say anything but she knows something is up,” Connor explained. He shrugged slightly. “She thinks that Percy and Luke have some kind of beef because of their dads.”

“What?” Annabeth frowned, lifting her head again. “Why would she think that?” 

“I don’t know, honestly. As far as I know they’ve never crossed paths, but both of the years that Luke’s dad was competing in the Olympics, Percy’s dad would’ve been there, too. I don’t think Piper’s really thought too much about it; she’s just sort of grasping at straws.”

“So what did you tell her?”

“Just that it’s old news and she shouldn’t worry about it.”

“That’s so weird,” she said after a moment. “It doesn’t even make any sense. Luke's dad wasn’t even a swimmer; he was a sprinter. And besides— they would have been competing for completely different countries.”

“Chase,” Connor sighed, “like I said, she’s just confused and trying to find some kind of reason.”

Annabeth studied Connor’s expression. “You think I should tell her the truth.”

“No, I don’t,” he corrected. “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do. And I don’t think that there’s any real benefit to telling her about Luke if I’m being completely honest. But I do think you should talk to her.”

She groaned, leaning to the side until she toppled over, falling onto the mattress. “I hate this,” she mumbled, her voice muffled by the blankets she’d buried herself in.

“What?”

“You being friends with Piper,” Annabeth answered. She tilted her head toward him. “Not to mention Percy. I am supposed to keep these parts of my life separate for a reason—now it’s all mixed up and weird.”

“I thought you’d be happy,” Connor shrugged. “It could be worse: we could hate each other.”

“There’s still hope.”

“Nah,” he said confidently, rising to his feet and swinging his leg over the seat of the desk chair. “They could never hate me. Not when—”

A loud crash cut through the otherwise silent apartment, causing Annabeth to sit bolt upright. Connor nearly tripped over the chair as he stumbled slightly at the noise. 

“What the hell was that?” he asked, staring at the door. 

“I don’t know,” Annabeth shook her head, eyes wide. “Hazel and Katie are at the beach.”

Connor did a quick glance around the room before he crossed toward Annabeth’s bookshelf and closed his fist around one of the trophies, holding it as if he planned to use the heavy base as a weapon. He stepped back toward the door, opening it carefully. Almost instantly, his shoulders relaxed. 

“I’m so sorry!” a voice called out from the other room. Annabeth hurried to her feet, her brow furrowing at the unfamiliar voice. She rose onto her toes to peer over Connor’s shoulder to eye the stranger curiously. “I know I’m not technically set to move in until tomorrow but—”

“Oh my God,” Annabeth exclaimed, recognition settling in after only a moment. A wave of relief washed over her as she carefully brushed past Connor and stepped out into the living room. “You must be Reyna.”

The girl nodded and her long, black ponytail swayed with the movement. She stepped toward Annabeth and extended a hand. “And you’re… Annabelle?”

“Annabeth,” she smiled, shaking her hand. 

Reyna was tall, almost as tall as Annabeth, with strong features and warm, golden brown skin. Her eyes were a shade of brown so deep that the irises were nearly black, full lips pulling at the corners to reveal a dazzling white smile. She emanated an aura that Annabeth could only describe as regal, her dark eyes seeming to take Annabeth in as well. 

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to meet before,” Annabeth said. “I’ve been so busy lately, but Hazel and Katie have told me a lot about you.”

“They’ve told me about you as well,” Reyna said. “Olympics, right? Impressive.”

“Well, nothing is official yet, but I’m hoping so,” Annabeth laughed a bit uneasily.

“So this is your boyfriend?”

“What?” she asked, following Reyna’s stare. “Oh— no, sorry. This is Connor, my best friend.” She reached out and grabbed Connor’s wrist, tugging him forward. 

“I’m not usually wielding trophies,” Connor teased, offering Reyna one of his trademark charismatic grins as he stepped out of the doorway. He transferred the trophy to his left hand and held the other out for her. “We thought you were a murderer.”

Reyna laughed, gesturing toward the kitchen. “Not a murderer, just a klutz. I tripped and dropped the box that had all my mugs in it. I’m scared to open it, honestly.” 

“Well, you’re in luck,” Annabeth smiled. “We happen to have an abundance of mugs as it is. Do you need help with anything else?”

“Yeah, actually,” she nodded, “that’d be great. My sister’s coming by to drop off my bed and dresser later, but I still have a few boxes in my car downstairs.”

Connor shrugged, already beginning to move toward the door. “Shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

It only took a couple of trips to bring the remainder of Reyna’s belongings upstairs, and once they’d stacked the boxes in Thalia’s old room, they left her to begin settling in. Connor plopped himself down on the couch, already digging through the cushions for the remote as Annabeth set a path for the kitchen to start on a pot of coffee. 

She’d just opened the cabinet when there was a knock at the door. Connor looked over. “Need me to get the trophy again?”

“No,” she laughed, walking away from the open cabinet and peering through the peephole. The face she saw on the other side surprised her and she hurried to unlock the door. “What are you doing here?”

“Nice to see you, too,” Percy grinned. He raised the paper bag in his hand and she recognized the Medea’s logo immediately. “I brought you some breakfast— but we have to eat fast.”

Annabeth furrowed her brow as she stepped aside to let Percy into the apartment and closed the door behind him. She followed him over to the counter, watching as he pulled the two Styrofoam containers and slid one toward her. 

“Sorry, Connor,” he said, dipping down to greet Connor through the space between the cabinets and the counter, “I didn’t know you were already here.”

“Already ate,” Connor called back, rising to his feet. Annabeth was still staring as he approached the opposite side of the counter and leaned onto his elbows. “Smells good, though.”

“I appreciate the thought,” Annabeth said as Percy finally picked up the container that was obviously meant for her and set it pointedly into her hands, “but why do I have to hurry?”

“Because,” Percy answered, shrugging as he opened the lid on his own box and turned around to fish a couple of forks out of the drying rack. He held one out for her before he set to cutting his vibrantly blue pancakes with the side of the utensil. “We have a busy day today.”

“We do?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Annabeth set her plate down and opened the lid, surprised to see that Percy had apparently remembered her favorite breakfast order— a perfectly golden Belgian waffle topped with strawberries and a tiny dollop of whipped cream. She glanced back up just as Percy brought his fork to his mouth and tried to remember if there were any commitments that she was forgetting. “I didn’t think we had anything scheduled for today.”

Percy ducked again, mouth still half-full as he directed his question at Connor. “You didn’t tell her?”

“Thought you’d like to do the honors,” Connor smirked. “Felt kind of like it was a fake-boyfriend type of job.”

There was a beat of silence as both Percy and Annabeth paused, freezing for a moment before they both seemed to realize that since they were alone (well, except for Reyna who was busy in her room), there wasn’t any harm in Connor pointing out the nature of their arrangement. 

Still, addressing it so blatantly did make things feel a little bit strange, and Annabeth shifted her eyes back down to her waffle to avoid making eye contact with either of them. “So what are we doing?” she asked before she took a bite.

Percy cleared his throat. “Connor had an idea.”

“It wasn’t my idea.”

“Okay, well, talking to you gave me the idea.”

“Still not my idea,” Connor laughed.

“Hello?” Annabeth interrupted. “Do I get to know what’s going on?”

“It might be more fun if we didn’t tell her,” Connor said, scratching at his chin. “But she can be really annoying when she’s out of the loop.”

Percy pointed his fork at Connor. “True.”

“I am right here.”

“Yeah, right here in your pajamas when you need to be in your room getting ready,” Percy replied. “So eat up.”

Half an hour later, after Annabeth had scarfed down the majority of her waffle and quickly changed into clothes that were deemed suitable for wearing in public, the trio set off toward the parking lot. “Your keys, ma’am?” Connor drawled, holding out a hand and wriggling his fingers. 

“I don’t even get to drive myself?” she whined, dropping her keys into his open palm. “This is so stupid.”

“That is very rude, Diner Girl,” Percy chastised as Connor wiggled the key in the driver’s door and pressed the button to unlock the others once he got it open. Annabeth walked around to Connor’s side, letting Percy go for the front seat as she tugged open the back door. She dropped down into the back, surprised when Percy slid into the spot to her right. “You don’t even know where we’re taking you.”

“You can sit up front, you know,” she grumbled, ignoring the way Connor was very pointedly staring at her in the reflection of the rearview mirror as he turned the key in the ignition. “I left it open for you.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I know. But it’ll be a lot harder to bother you from up there.”

“Seatbelts, boys and girls,” Connor called out in a sing-song voice as he shifted the Corolla into drive. “Safety first.”

Percy looked up after he’d buckled his seatbelt. “Is he like this a lot?”

“Like what? Annoying?”

He laughed as Connor pretended to ignore them, turning the radio up slightly and beginning to sing along. “Like a kindergarten teacher on a field trip.”

Annabeth tilted her head. “You know he’s an ed major, right?” Percy’s expression told her instantly that he had not known that. She grinned, clicking her own seatbelt into place. “That clear a few things up?”

“Actually, yeah,” Percy admitted. He glanced back toward the front of the car where Connor was bobbing his head to the music and singing along in a ridiculous voice. “Connor as a teacher actually makes a lot of sense— he’ll be right on the kids’ wavelength.”

“Don’t let his act fool you: he’s a lot smarter than he lets on,” she said quietly, mostly in an attempt to keep Connor from overhearing and being embarrassed by her praise. “And he loves working with kids— he literally cried when he finished his first student-teaching internship because he didn’t want to leave. The principal wrote him an insane letter of recommendation.”

Percy eyed Connor with new interest. “Huh.”

“Surprised?”

“A little,” he admitted. “Mostly just sort of jealous.”

“Jealous?” Annabeth asked, her brow furrowing. “What do you mean?”

Percy shrugged, tilting his shoulders toward her slightly as he leaned back against the door and looked over at her. “It’s always been really cool to me to see people like you and Connor who are so sure about what they want to do and go after it.” His answer confused her and she was sure that it showed in her face because he didn’t even wait for her to ask before he continued to explain. “I just mean, I guess I’m sort of jealous that you know what you’re supposed to be doing, you know?”

“But you’re doing what you love, too,” she said, her eyes narrowing slightly as she tried to understand. “You’re getting a degree that will let you keep swimming and working with other swimmers. Isn’t that what you want?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he nodded. “It’s not exactly my dream job, though.”

“Will you two stop having a whole-ass heart to heart back there?” Connor griped, turning the dial to lower the volume just long enough to voice his annoyance before he turned the music up again. “Don’t make me sing ‘Mr. Brightside’ alone— you’ll regret it.”

The Connor-mandated sing-along filled the rest of their drive, and Annabeth felt all of the stress in her shoulders melting away by the second. Eventually, Connor pulled the car into an empty spot on the top level of a parking garage and they all piled out. 

“You brought me to the Pier?” she asked incredulously, the smell of the salty ocean air filling her lungs as soon as she was on her feet. “It’s just a bunch of cheesy tourist stuff.”

Percy sighed dramatically, pulling her along by the shoulder strap of her overalls. “When’s the last time you were a tourist in your own city, Beth?” he asked. Connor walked ahead of them, focused intently on something on his phone and Annabeth couldn’t help but feel like it was a strategic move to leave her alone with Percy. “You think I don’t hit up Times Square every time I go back home?”

“That’s different,” she protested, tugging herself free and dropping her hands to her pockets. “I mean, this can’t even be fun for you— you practically live across the street.”

He smirked, slipping his hand into hers as they walked. “Have a little faith, Diner Girl. You might even have fun.”

She was quiet, trying not to think about the fact that they didn’t need to pretend for Connor’s sake and yet he’d reached for her hand anyway. He was probably just playing it safe. Over the past few weeks, Annabeth had come to realize that just because she didn’t think of either of them as being any level of celebrity didn’t mean that there weren't people that did. Percy’s verified social media accounts were proof enough of that. 

“I know this weekend was rough,” he said as they met up with Connor at the elevator. “We just wanted to get you out to do something fun and get your mind off of things. If you’re miserable, you can blame Connor.”

“Still maintain that this was not my idea,” he muttered, not looking up from his phone. 

Annabeth rose on her toes enough to glance at his screen and realize he was playing some kind of game. She rolled her eyes. “Do you have a case to make?” she asked Percy, resting back down onto her heels.

The elevator chimed and the door creaked open slowly. Percy nudged her forward. “It’s not going to matter because you’re going to have fun.” Connor stepped in and pressed the button for the ground floor just as Percy squeezed her hand. “I’m going to make sure of it.”

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 62

It didn’t take very long for Annabeth to figure out that when Percy had said they had a ‘busy day’ planned, he had only been half-joking. She quickly realized that even though there didn’t seem to be very much in the way of an actual plan, Percy and Connor weren’t about to let that stop them from exploring every inch of Pier 39. 

Their first stop had been a surprising one: an escape room, the theme of which (‘Mission: Alcatraz’) had been chosen by Connor. It went a lot smoother than she’d expected when the notion had initially been proposed, and Connor and Percy actually made a great team. They ended up breaking the previous record escape time and were awarded cheesy, bright orange t-shirts that read ‘I Escaped The Rock’ in huge block script. (Annabeth made a mental note to hide hers in the back of her bottom drawer once she got home.)

They filled the afternoon easily, taking their time as they walked through the crowd and browsed vendor displays and watched the street performers. When they grew tired of walking, they staked out a cool, shaded spot to watch the sea lions while they munched on soft pretzels, and she was even able to talk the guys into taking a ride on the carousel. Things felt so comfortable that she almost managed to forget about the weirdness of their situation, deciding instead to focus on soaking up the laughter and smiling so much her cheeks actually began to hurt. 

The afternoon ended up being exactly what she needed to take her mind off of the stressful weekend, the guilt she still felt for her role in the loss, and the jolt of anxiety that talking to Chloe Roth had ignited. Connor and Percy swept her from one end of the Pier to the other, shopping and snacking and jokingly teasing one another as they went. Then finally, when the late afternoon sun was dipping down toward the horizon, Percy announced that it was time to head toward their last stop.

“Where are we going?” Annabeth asked as Connor and Percy urged her back toward The Embarcadero. The crowd had thinned out a fair bit and most of the street vendors had begun to shutter their stalls for the night. 

“You ask too many questions,” Connor griped, turning to face her even as he continued to attempt to walk backwards. “Can’t you ever just go with the— fuck.” He cursed as he tripped over a trashcan which caused Annabeth to roll her eyes and hide her quiet laughter. Connor paused to set the trashcan upright again as she hurried to keep pace with Percy. 

“If I ask nicely will you tell me?” she begged, poking her bottom lip out. Percy just smiled, apparently not even having to look over at her to know that she was pouting. Annabeth hooked her arm through his. “Pleaaase?”

“Connor’s right,” Percy sighed, though his smile had only widened. “You’re impatient.”

It didn’t take much longer for Annabeth to piece it all together. As they neared the main road, Percy steered her to the left and Connor caught up to them just as the brightly illuminated sign came into view. She turned to look at him, slightly confused. 

“The aquarium? Isn’t it closing soon?” she asked as they slowed their pace and Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The sign on the front of the building displayed a closing time of six o’clock and it was already past five-thirty. “Why didn’t we start here?”

“Once a month,” Percy explained as he tapped through his phone and navigated to his email, “they have an after-hours night. The crowds are smaller so you can really take your time and enjoy everything.” He opened a message that she assumed contained a confirmation for their tickets and looked up. “That okay?”

Annabeth nodded, her smile brightening. “That sounds perfect.”

“Well,” Connor sighed in mock-exasperation, “are you two going to be annoying the whole time?”

“Do you want to hold Percy’s hand, too?” she teased, but Connor wasn’t biting. 

“Maybe I do.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes and Percy laughed, beginning to nudge her toward the entrance. “Come on,” he said. “If we’re lucky, we’ll lose him in the tunnels.”

Once a year from third through eighth grade, her class had taken a trip to the aquarium, but Annabeth hadn’t been back since then. The main lobby still looked mostly the same as she remembered, with only minor changes and a few small upgrades. Oddly enough, she found that there was something sort of magical about being there at night. It was much calmer than it was during normal business hours and the lights, if she wasn’t mistaken, had been dimmed ever so slightly.

They’d made it a full twenty yards past the security checkpoint when Annabeth felt a gentle tap on her arm. She looked over, surprised by the touch, and found herself face to face with two girls that couldn’t be older than fifteen or sixteen. The one that had touched her arm was staring at something over Annabeth’s shoulder, her teeth digging excitedly into her bottom lip. The other girl spoke up after another moment of silence. 

“Hi, um,” she said quietly, giggling to herself. She had long red hair that hung in Dutch braids on either side of her head and her braces were fitted with bright yellow bands that matched the sunflower print on the scrunchie she wore on her wrist. “Can we ask you a question?”

“Uh, sure, I guess,” Annabeth nodded, confused. “What’s up?”

“Is your name Annabeth?”

She blinked, surprised. “Who—”

“Oh my God, it’s totally her,” the other girl said without waiting for Annabeth’s answer. Her eyes sparkled, a faint hint of a red flush crossing her light brown cheeks as her dark butterfly locs bounced with the movement of her barely-contained excitement. 

“So that really is—” the red-headed girl pointed behind Annabeth where her friend was still staring excitedly at something. “That’s Percy Jackson?”

“Um,” Annabeth balked, glancing over her shoulder to where Percy and Connor stood side by side in front of a tank filled with jellyfish that were illuminated by blacklights. “Yeah, but who—”

“We’re on the swim team at Bayside and we’re huge fans,” the giggly girl interrupted. “Everyone on our team has been obsessed with following him this season. We were literally just looking at the pictures of you guys from last weekend while we were waiting in line outside.”

“Shara!” the red-headed girl said, elbowing her friend lightly. “Don’t be weird— that sounds so creepy!”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” the girl who must be named Shara smiled. “I just— I mean, do you think we could maybe get a picture with you guys?”

“Beth?” Annabeth turned toward the voice, toward Percy who had apparently noticed the encounter at last and was making his way toward them with a cautious look on his face. Connor was also watching curiously, though he hadn’t made any effort at moving any closer. When he reached her side, he rested his hand on her back. “Everything okay?”

The girls looked at each other, clasping their hands between them excitedly as they tried to maintain reasonably composed expressions. It looked like it was taking every ounce of self-control that they had to keep from squealing. 

“Yeah,” Annabeth answered with a smile, gesturing to the girls. “This is Shara and— I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

“Makayla,” the other said quickly, her braces glinting as she chewed on her lip again.

Annabeth looked back to Percy. “They go to Bayside.”

“Oh, cool,” Percy nodded. “I graduated from Bayside a few years ago.”

“We know,” Shara blurted and Makayla nodded enthusiastically. “You’re kind of a legend.”

“They’re on the swim team,” Annabeth offered, hoping to ease the conversation along. “They were hoping you’d be up to taking a few pictures.”

“Sure,” Percy shrugged, casual as anything. “No problem.”

Annabeth reached out to take the phone Makayla was holding out but Shara held up a hand. “Wait,” she shook her head, “we want you in the picture, too.”

“Really?” Annabeth asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “Why?” 

“You guys are so cute together,” Makayla beamed. “I can’t believe we just ran into you! Oh my God, Shara— can you imagine Tristan’s face when we show them the pictures—“

While the girls continued to chatter excitedly, Percy called Connor over and gave him a quick introduction and explanation. Makayla placed her phone in Connor’s hand and they stepped back to line up. Percy and Annabeth stood in the middle and one girl stepped up on either side. Connor took a few pictures quickly, clearly enjoying himself as he directed them in different facial expressions, poses, and configurations. After a few minutes, when they’d taken at least twenty photos of every possible combination of the group (including one selfie with all five of them together), Connor handed the phone back and waved before he headed toward the next room.

Annabeth stood at Percy’s side, listening patiently while he talked to the girls about his old coach and some of the school records he still held. He offered them advice and encouragement and seemed genuinely happy to do it, but after a few more minutes, he took the lead and politely excused them, slipping his arm around Annabeth’s waist as he led her in the direction of the room that Connor had disappeared into. He leaned his head in close, voice soft. “You okay?”

“Does that happen a lot?” she asked, glad that he’d been the one to mention the weirdness of the situation and saved her from the embarrassment of bringing it up herself. “Like, getting noticed in public?”

“I wouldn’t say a lot,” he shrugged, “but occasionally. Usually, it’s less intense than that.” Percy glanced over his shoulder casually before he looked back at Annabeth. “And, just for the record, I think a lot of people are gonna end up seeing this little outing.”

After a few seconds had passed (when she felt it would be safe to take a look for herself), Annabeth risked a peek at the girls and realized that they were still grinning to each other and that they appeared to be snapping a few more photos as well. It didn’t really bother her as much as she might have expected that it would, and she felt a bit strange admitting to herself that she was actually a little bit relieved— at least if she knew they were being watched, they wouldn’t be caught off guard. 

“Is that a bad thing?” Annabeth asked, turning her eyes back to Percy. They were standing in front of a huge tank that spanned across the entire upper half of a ten-foot long wall and was filled with a wide variety of colorful, tropical fish. The shimmering light reflected on his face as he watched the schools swim past. 

“People seeing us here?” he asked, not shifting his gaze from the tank. “I don’t see why it would be a bad thing. Probably Brunner’s just going to be happy people seem to actually give a shit about all of this. Between you and me, I definitely thought it would’ve blown over by now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we both thought this plan was stupid, right?” Percy shrugged. Connor headed toward the next exhibit and they turned to follow. “I remember we talked about that on the first day, before we’d even agreed to anything. I’m surprised it’s gone on so long— I sort of figured it would’ve flopped and Brunner would’ve called the whole thing off by now.”

An unfamiliar knot twisted itself in Annabeth’s chest. She replayed Percy’s words over and over while she watched a seahorse slowly wind its tail around a piece of kelp. No matter how she examined the statement, she couldn’t figure out the intention behind it, but that didn’t stop her from chafing at the idea that Percy might actually be annoyed by the fact that their charade had not backfired and that they were still pieces in this weird game. Or, worse— maybe he was tired of constantly pretending to like her as more than just a friend.

‘No,’ she thought to herself, silencing that train of thought before she could get stuck in her head even more than she already was. Even if he had thought that their time together would be over by now, he hadn’t given her any reason to believe that he didn’t like her. Maybe the situation was less than ideal, and maybe Annabeth’s very real feelings were completely one-sided, but Percy wasn’t annoyed by her. That much she was sure of. 

The thing that truly silenced her doubt was spotting Connor out of the corner of her eye. He’d never once let her feel sorry for herself for longer than three seconds at a time, and his unconditional support was always the voice that echoed through her mind when she found herself beginning to spiral. Seeing him, she knew immediately that he would be unendingly aggravated with her for even beginning to think that way. 

Then, of course, the sudden reminder of Connor’s presence made her realize that it probably wasn’t exactly thoughtful to leave him to his own devices, but when she looked over, he seemed more than happy to be leading himself around. He was reading a placard that listed facts about the different species of sea creatures that inhabited the shallow touch tank in the center of the room. When she finally pulled her eyes away, he’d been elbow-deep in the water, trying desperately to befriend the rays that were swimming just beyond his reach. 

“Well, between you and me,” she said after a moment, turning Percy’s own phrase back onto him, “I’m kind of glad that it hasn’t fallen apart yet. If we weren’t doing this, we wouldn’t have had today.”

There was hardly a beat of silence before he shook his head. “No,” Percy said definitively, “we still would’ve had today.”

Annabeth glanced over, expecting some form of explanation for such a finite declaration, but none came. They came to a stop in front of another tank, watching as a pair of sea otters chased each other through the water. “Why do you say that?” she asked when it became obvious that he wasn’t planning to elaborate.

She felt his hand settle onto her back and almost immediately heard a squeal from one of the girls they’d spoken to before, informing them both that not only were they being followed— they were still being watched. He turned his head, letting Connor know that they were moving on to the next room before he guided her forward. His apparent avoidance of her question had not gone unnoticed, and Annabeth felt the knot in her chest twisting again as the hand on her back slid to her hip and pulled her into his side.

The silence remained as they walked through a short, dark hallway that suddenly opened up into a massive underwater tunnel. The entire corridor was tinted by the light that filtered through the beautiful turquoise water that surrounded them and light refraction danced across the dark carpeted floors. There was another couple further down the walkway and Annabeth was acutely aware of the arrival of the same pair of girls that had continued to shadow them, but the tunnel was otherwise empty. It was quiet, with soft music playing from somewhere and Percy was still looking straight forward, as if he were hoping that the change of scenery would make her forget that she’d asked a question. 

It didn’t really matter how much time passed— she doubted that she would ever get used to the way Percy could shift so quickly from being entirely open to being completely caged. She’d noticed it from the very beginning: how his attitude had swung so easily in Brunner’s office on that first morning, his deflection and impatience at dinner a few days later, the way he’d kept her at arm’s length the night of Thalia’s show in San Jose. Sometimes it was unprovoked, but other times (like this particular evening), it felt as if he’d caught himself saying something that he wished he hadn’t and hoped they would be able to move past it if he could just pretend that it hadn’t happened.

And maybe that would work with someone else. Maybe. But not with Annabeth. 

Her feet slowed until they came to a full stop in the middle of the mostly empty tunnel. She eyed him, waiting to speak until he noticed her behavior and looked back at her. “Why did you say that?” she repeated nervously, raising an eyebrow in confusion at his sudden elusiveness. 

He sighed and his arm fell away from her waist. “We’ve been at this for a while, right?” Annabeth stared for a moment before she realized he actually expected an answer and she finally nodded. “And we’ve had a lot of fun. Right?”

“Yeah,” she nodded again. “But I—“

“You said it yourself that we wouldn’t have gotten the chance to get to know each other without this dumb deal,” he explained, his eyes shifting as they followed a shark ray that swam along the bottom of the huge tank. He pushed his hands into his pockets, his voice soft so that they might avoid being overheard. “Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t really expect us to get along this well when we started. It’s been kind of surprising, in a good way.”

“I’m sorry,” she shook her head. “I still don’t understand.”

Percy turned around to face her, leaning back to rest against the half-wall that ran down the bottom part of the tunnel. He reached for her wrist and pulled her in front of him. With him leaning against the wall, they were eye to eye. “Even if Brunner had called this off weeks ago, I still would’ve been in Salt Lake. I still would’ve wanted to do something for you to take your mind off of all of the tournament bullshit. I still would’ve wanted to bring you here today, because I think that something happened on that cliff that night.”

Annabeth stared wordlessly. His words made perfect sense to her interpretation of things, but she knew that there was no way that he was hearing the way they sounded. She didn’t dare move or respond for fear that she’d show her hand and ruin everything once and for all. “The cliff?” she managed to ask, thinking that it was worth taking a small risk in the name of clarification. 

“The Labyrinth,” he specified. “I think we both knew that there was no going back after that night. You said, ‘the Labyrinth is going to know all of our secrets’, remember?” She nodded. “Well, the biggest secret, Beth, is that that night changed things. We went from two people that were just fulfilling an obligation to people that knew things about each other that some of the people closest to us don’t even know.”

“I still don’t see why that means we’d be here today anyway,” she said carefully, still a bit too nervous to say too much. Looking down at her hands, at his fingers wrapped loosely around her wrist, she worried that he might feel her quickened pulse. “If the deal was over, I mean.”

“I don’t care about you because Brunner told me to,” he said simply. “I care about you because, at some point between that morning in the admin building and that night after the interview, we made the mistake of actually getting to know each other. It would’ve been easy to half-ass this, you know? But we didn’t; I let you into my life, you let me into yours. A piece of paper in Brunner’s file cabinet doesn’t change that.”

The room seemed to fall still as she considered his unfathomable admission. She searched for any hint that he might be exaggerating and found nothing— and why should she? Hadn’t she found the same to be true for her? Percy was right: they’d grown closer in the last few months than either of them had expected and surely neither of them had anticipated letting the other into such deeply private parts of their lives. 

Whether she deserved his trust or not, he had willingly given her a glimpse at the past that he was so ashamed of, even knowing that it might mean scaring her off. Annabeth knew a part of Percy that few could claim. She understood the raging storm that worked just beneath the surface of his usually collected exterior and she had, at some point, come to recognize the signs that the tide was beginning to rise. And even more surprisingly, she’d also become skilled at calming the swells before disaster could strike. 

And in turn, she had opened her wounds for him, knowing that there was every chance he would simply pour salt into them and walk away. But he hadn’t; rather, Percy had done all that he could to help her stitch herself back together. He didn’t treat her like she was wounded or fragile, even as he kept a watchful eye out for new threats. They’d mastered a careful dance, one that offered them both a safe place to hide in arms that asked nothing in return. 

Certainly Dr. Brunner had no way of knowing that they would find true companionship in the duration of their agreement— but, when they weren’t paying attention, it had happened anyway. She’d pulled him into her crazy life and now the people whose opinions she’d been most nervous about were as much his friends as they were hers. Looking at him now, with the fractals of artificial sunlight moving over his features, it felt impossible to remember a time before him. Three months ago, Percy had been a stranger in a diner and now she could hardly imagine her life without him in it. 

All she wanted in that moment was to tell him the truth: that things hadn’t been fake for her for a while now and that the last week and a half had only bolstered that truth. She wanted to admit that it was real, this thing that she felt, and she wanted to believe that there was some chance that he felt it, too. But she couldn’t do it. It was a risk she couldn’t afford— not with the Olympics still so far away. If whatever friendship they did have fell apart because of her confession, it would make the next two months wholly unbearable and she just couldn’t take the chance. 

But that acknowledgement did little to calm the fluttering in her chest, the pounding of her heart against her ribs as she let their closeness intoxicate her even further. Her eyes moved his lips for a split second before she felt the knot in her chest twist uncomfortably again and, for a moment, she wondered if it was actually possible to feel pain from wanting to kiss someone so badly.

‘But maybe,’ she thought to herself. Maybe there was a way.

It was still quiet, with only the faint sound of the music playing over the speakers and the sound of the door at the far end of the tunnel closing as the other couple moved on to the next exhibit. But when Annabeth glanced over her shoulder one last time, she confirmed at once that they were in fact still being watched by the two teenage girls that were maintaining a polite distance. 

Slowly, she turned back to face Percy, her throat feeling tight with anticipation. “Can I kiss you?”

He looked surprised for only a brief moment before his eyes flitted up, looking at the girls over the top of her head and putting the pieces together. Instead of answering, Percy released her wrist and rose to his feet again. A moment later, Annabeth felt one of his hands press against the small of her back and draw her nearer, her arms going instinctively to rest on his chest. His other hand rested on her forearm, holding her close as he dipped his face toward hers. 

When his lips pressed against hers, they were soft and sure, as if he were hoping that the gentleness of his kiss would make her believe all of the impossible things he’d told her just moments before. She forgot about the girls that were watching them and about the fact that they were still in a very public place. She felt the fabric of his t-shirt twist under her touch and he pressed her closer in response and for one moment, Annabeth forgot about the deal, too. 

For the span of one heartbeat, it all felt so real and she let that feeling fill her. It coursed through her veins and set her skin on fire, giving her the confidence to deepen the kiss. It flushed the guilt and anxiety from her mind and replaced it with the comfort of being held by someone that knew your secrets and hadn’t run away. It took a devastating amount of effort to break the spell but she managed.

When she finally pulled back, Annabeth turned away almost immediately to hide the vibrant, unavoidable blush in her cheeks. After a steadying breath, she took a step toward the opposite side of the tunnel, watching a sea turtle move effortlessly through the tank as she tried to calm her rapid heartbeat. Percy followed a few seconds later, as if some inexplicable magnetism was pulling him after her.

They stood there for what felt like several minutes. It was silent as they stood side by side wordlessly and watched the movement on the other side of the thick, curved plexiglass. In fact, so much time passed like that that the two girls from Bayside eventually gave up and moved on, leaving them alone in the tunnel.

“I’m sorry,” Percy said after another moment had passed. She turned her face to him, visibly confused. “I didn’t mean to make you feel weird. Today was kind of supposed to do the opposite.”

“You didn’t. I appreciate it, really,” Annabeth replied quickly, shaking her head. She bit her lip and released it, looking back out into the clear water. “I just… don’t deserve it.”

“And why do you think that?”

“Because it’s true,” she said simply, and she meant it. There was no amount of self-pity in the words; she wasn’t hoping to be showered with compliments to the contrary as a result of her self-consciousness. She believed it to her core. 

In her entire life, Connor had been the only person that she’d ever been able to depend on. He was the only person that had never failed her or asked too much or judged her shortcomings. Connor loved her for exactly what she was, flaws and all, and that love had grown over a decade of friendship. It was solid and impenetrable and she knew that nothing would ever change that. Even still, she struggled to feel deserving of such an unconditional love.

So how was she meant to accept such a thing from Percy? Someone who she’d known for such a short time and who owed her absolutely nothing. Someone who had their own worries and fears that should take priority over hers. How could she deserve so much of his time and care when people that had been in her life for years didn’t try half as hard on her behalf?

“What do I have to do to make you understand?” he asked, his voice sounding almost fragile as it poured out of him. “What am I going to have to say to make you believe me when I tell you that getting to know you has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me?”

Annabeth pulled her lip between her teeth again as she stared straight forward. The heavy weight of the question lingered there in the empty tunnel until she finally managed to face him. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Percy shook his head. “If it’s bothering you, you should always say something.”

She nodded, still barely able to keep her eyes on his face and the serenity of his eyes. “In that case,” Annabeth managed after a moment had passed, “I guess I’m also glad that things didn’t work out the way we thought that they would.”

That earned her a soft smile, his dimple making another appearance in his cheek. “I know that it’s still kind of a weird situation, but I think that it’s safe to say we both got something good out of it.”

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “I guess that’s true.”

“I just hope that you know that even if the whole thing ended tomorrow,” Percy said gently, “I’d still be cheering for you.”

It didn’t matter that he’d spent the better part of the past half-hour trying to reassure her, the words still took the wind out of her sails. “But, why?” she asked shakily, her self-doubt speaking for her before any bit of logic could stall the words.

Percy sighed, but it wasn’t an annoyed sigh. His gaze shifted to something that resembled admiration as he tugged her wrist and pulled her closer again. “Because you’re my friend, Diner Girl,” he said, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. His eyes followed the strand, pulling the tendril through his fingers gently before he withdrew his hand. “Any more stupid questions?”

Chapter Text

to read the article as plain text, click here. // portraits by amesliu.

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 50

“Well,” Connor shrugged, tossing the magazine onto the coffee table. A comically staged and heavily edited photo of Percy and Annabeth smiled back from the cover and Annabeth all but groaned as she looked away. “It could be worse, right? At least they didn’t try to throw in any of that stuff about Luke.”

“Yeah, well, I told her not to run any of that,” Percy shook his head. He hadn’t so much as glanced at the magazine and seemed to have no interest in changing that. “It would’ve been bad for them if they had and they know it.”

Picking up a half-shift at the diner that morning had actually been a blessing in disguise. Sure, when her phone rang at 4:00 AM, she’d been ready to murder Sinclaire for calling in at the last minute, but being distracted all morning had meant that she hadn’t had time to stress about the magazine release. It felt a bit like a choreographed fight, dodging and weaving as she narrowly avoided having to deal with the publication. Now that they’d all gathered at Percy’s, however, she had little choice but to face the monster head on.

Annabeth had given the pages a quick glance but hadn’t let herself look at them for too long. She didn’t have any intention of letting any of the reminders of poor performances or increased pressures get to her, and wasn’t too keen on the idea of potentially obsessing over the fact that Luke had been behind the whole thing in the first place. There hadn’t been a good time to discuss that new knowledge with Percy, and truthfully she wasn’t even sure that there was any point. It would only make him more angry and there wasn’t anything he could do about it now.

Speaking of Percy, the portrait that the editors had chosen to run for him was another reason she hadn’t allowed herself to give the story a deeper look. The picture was… good. A little too good. Enough time had passed since the photoshoot that she’d been able to mostly dilute the mental image of Percy from that day, but having the sight of him frozen in time like that, lifting himself out of the pool, winded and drenched—

“Beth?” 

Annabeth’s head shot up. She glanced to her side first, where Connor was sprawled out on the other end of the couch, then across the coffee table to where Percy was sitting. “Hm?”

Percy raised an eyebrow at her. “You looked a little out of it.” 

“Sorry,” she said before clearing her throat a bit, adjusting in her seat. “Thinking.”

“So.” Connor drummed his hands on his knees. “Where’s Frank?” 

“Uh,” Percy mused, craning his neck to look over toward Frank’s bedroom door. His hair was still damp from his post-workout shower, causing the dark tendrils to appear nearly black in the dim living room. “Door’s closed, he might still be asleep. He was up pretty late last night.”

“Asleep?” Annabeth asked. “It’s almost noon.”

“Not everyone is up at the crack of dawn, Chase,” Connor said as he propped his feet on the coffee table. “Is he gonna be awake soon, though? We’ve still gotta go by the grocery store before tonight.”

Percy tipped back his mug, draining the last of his coffee before he leaned forward and set it on the table. He stood, stretching his arms above his head as he got to his feet and causing his t-shirt to lift, an inch and a half of olive skin appearing at the top of his sweatpants. “I’ll go wake him up.”

Annabeth looked down at her mug quickly as Percy crossed the living room and knocked on Frank’s door. The moment that he was out of earshot, she felt Connor’s elbow dig into her arm. “Lookin’ a little red there, Annababe.”

“Shut up,” she mumbled without looking up. “Don’t be an ass.”

“You’re fucked,” Connor said matter-of-factly, a crooked, cocky smirk on his face. “You know that, right?”

“No, I’m not.”

“You totally are,” he laughed. He picked up his mug from the end table beside the couch and shot a glance back up the hall to make sure Percy was still reasonably distracted. “There’s still another month and a half in this before y’all even leave for Greece, and you blush anytime he’s near you. You ever gonna tell me what the hell happened at the aquarium?”

It’d been nearly two weeks since their day at the Pier and she’d been busy enough with work and practice that she had managed to successfully avoid any needling from Connor so far. It had been obvious that he’d known something was a bit different from the moment they got into the car at the end of the night, but he hadn’t pushed her too hard.

And then the pictures showed up online. Annabeth had secretly been perusing a few of the swim forums ever since she’d heard about Luke’s involvement in the SF Monthly piece and had taken a renewed interest in keeping up with their online presence, and thankfully she hadn’t found anything too upsetting. Most of the photos that were posted went unnoticed, only popping up on the girls’ social media pages and in one or two posts on some of the boards. 

The last picture, on the other hand, had received thousands of likes and been shared dozens of times. All things considered, Annabeth couldn’t be too upset about it. She’d sort of assumed that it would be a little more buzzworthy, especially in light of the drama that had unfolded at the Salt Lake tournament— that’s why they’d kissed in the first place, right? So, while seeing the picture of herself and Percy embracing in front of a backdrop of tropical fish and sea turtles wasn’t the least bit surprising, it was a little surprising to find that every time she looked at the photo again, she couldn’t stop thinking about the way that she’d felt when he was holding her. 

“Nothing happened,” Annabeth insisted.

“Right. And that picture was just—”

“That picture was exactly what we wanted,” she interrupted, looking up from her mug. “We knew that those girls were watching us, we knew they were taking pictures. We just took advantage of an opportunity. That’s all.”

Percy reappeared in Frank’s open doorway and Connor lifted his mug, hiding a smile behind the rim. “You keep telling yourself that, Chase.”

“What’s that?” Percy asked as he returned, picking up his empty mug. 

“Nothing, ignore him,” Annabeth sighed. She set her mug on the coffee table before she folded her legs beneath her on the couch. “What do we need from the store?”

After the less-than-awesome results of the last tournament, Annabeth had managed to talk Percy and Connor out of the party that they’d planned on throwing the following weekend. June 14th was a big day and it could potentially be a very exciting one— but it could also be devastating. And if it ended up being the latter, Annabeth felt pretty confident in saying that neither she nor Piper would be in much of a partying mood. 

Instead, the plan had shifted. The party had been bumped up a week, opting to celebrate the magazine release rather than the rankings— though, really, it was just an excuse to get their friends together. The summer was well underway and they hadn’t had a single party since Thalia’s graduation, and while Annabeth was not eager to have a repeat of her conversation with Percy from that night, she was actually looking forward to the party. She was excited for her friends to properly meet Percy’s friends, and it was a great opportunity for everyone to get to know Reyna a bit better. 

“I was thinking we’d split up,” Percy said, leaning forward with his elbows resting on the back of the armchair. “Me and Beth can hit the grocery store and you and Frank can make the booze run.”

“Sounds good,” Connor nodded. “Knowing your luck, you’ll get spotted by some teenybopper volleyball enthusiasts and you’ll have to makeout in the freezer aisle.” Annabeth kicked him in the outside of his thigh. “Hey!”

“You’re an idiot,” Annabeth groaned. 

“Hey,” Frank yawned as he entered the room. “Coffee ready?” 

“Yeah, and I brought some waffles from work,” Annabeth said, gesturing toward the Medea’s bag on the counter. “They’re probably cold by now but you can just pop them in the toaster.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, dude,” Frank said as he grinned at Percy, “but I think I’m falling in love with your girlfriend.”

-

By the time everyone had returned to the apartment with all of their assigned items in tow, it was well past three o’clock. Frank and Connor had already begun setting up their haul from the liquor store, lining the bottles side by side down the middle of the dining table that they’d dragged into the living room and pushed against the wall of windows. The summer sun was ruthless as it reflected off of the water in the Marina below, casting blinding refractions through the middle of the living room. Even though the view was usually too good to pass up, Annabeth had Percy draw the curtains over the tall windows that faced the water, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop by ten degrees in a matter of seconds. 

Mrs. O’Leary was initially very interested in their movements, but quickly became bored once she realized that there was no food involved. Annabeth settled back into the spot on the couch that she’d slowly come to think of as ‘hers’ over the last few months and Mrs. O’Leary laid across her lap in an instant, rolling onto her back as she whined for attention. 

“Slacking, Chase?” Connor asked as he and Percy lifted one of the heavy armchairs and began to carry it toward the edge of the room to get it out of the way. 

“It seems like you have it covered,” she shrugged, pulling up the music app on her phone with the hand that was not currently scratching Mrs. O’Leary’s chin. She connected to Percy’s speaker and set a playlist before she looked up again, watching the guys move the coffee table and the remaining armchair to the side of the living room as well. 

“So, Katie and Hazel are going to be here around six with the pizzas,” Connor said, sitting on the edge of one of the newly relocated chairs, “and Travis is riding with them.”

“And Reyna,” Annabeth added without looking up from the dog in her lap. “Don’t forget Reyna.”

“‘Course not,” he shook his head. “She’s riding with them too, I think. Chris said that he and Clarisse were planning on being here around six-thirty, and they’ll probably have Ellis with them.”

Frank picked up a painted vase that Annabeth had noticed before but never really thought much about. It was tucked into the corner near the bookshelf and was often overlooked, but she could see the carefully detailed ornamental painting now that Frank had it in his hands. “Is Grove coming?” he asked as he began to walk toward his bedroom with the vase. 

“Yeah,” Percy called after him. “Leo is gonna try to make it but I’m not sure he’ll be able to get out of work in time.” Annabeth lifted her head to ask a question, but Percy answered before she had the chance. “Mechanic. And a complete workaholic.”

“Gotcha,” she laughed. “Reyna said she had a couple of friends that she was thinking of inviting, too. I hope she does— I’m sure it’s a little weird to be at a party where you barely know anyone. It’ll probably be more fun for her if she has a few of her people here.”

Frank returned from his bedroom without the vase. If he was taking the time to move it out of the party area for safekeeping, it must be pretty important to him. Annabeth made a mental note to ask him about it later. “Who else?”

“I invited a couple of guys from the swim team,” Percy shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the kitchen island and the lines of his tattoo stretched out at the hem of his sleeve. Now that the summer heat had truly rolled in, he’d traded in the hoodies and long sleeves that she’d grown used to seeing him in, opting for short sleeved t-shirts more and more often these days, but she still hadn’t gotten entirely used to the sight. “Beth, did you ever make up your mind about Piper?”

“I thought you were going to invite her,” Annabeth frowned, looking at Connor. “Did you forget?”

“Not exactly,” Connor grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Oh, God,” Annabeth groaned. The look on his face reeked of guilt. From the moment that Percy had told her about what he’d observed in their hotel room in Salt Lake City, Annabeth had been waiting for the precarious ‘Connor and Piper Situation’ (as she and Percy had taken to calling it) to crumble into something disastrously awkward. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” he protested, raising his hands in defense. “I just kind of thought she might think it was weird if I invited her, and I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea and think that I think this thing is more than it is.”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “Which is—?”

“Sex, mostly,” Connor shrugged and Annabeth stifled a comedically exaggerated gag. “Which is why I don’t want to rock the boat. We’re just having fun. Don’t want to get any vibes crossed.”

“Fair,” Frank nodded, dropping into the other armchair. “Good call.”

“Is that why you didn’t end up bringing her to the Pier?” Percy asked. Annabeth hadn’t even realized that Piper had been factored into that outing at all. The idea that Percy had thought to try and include Piper pricked something in Annabeth’s heart that she couldn’t quite name. 

“I mean, I invited her but she said that she was worried it would feel like a double-date and it would be really awkward, which was fair,” Connor explained. “So instead, I went alone as the third wheel and it was only awkward for me.”

“You survived,” Annabeth reminded him, “even if you did complain the entire time. Next time we’ll invite Frank.”

“Please do,” he laughed. “Anyway— no, to answer your question. I haven’t asked her.”

Annabeth sighed. “I’ll text her.”

The tension between Annabeth and Piper had come to a mostly calm resolution, thankfully. The first few days of practice immediately following their trip to Utah had definitely been stiff and they’d completely lost their rhythm as a duo. After a long, heated lecture from Hedge, however, Annabeth swallowed her guilt and Piper put away her resentment and they both managed to patch their wounded pride. It took a couple of days, but they found their stride again. Things got steadily better after that, and the past week of practices had been perfectly normal. 

4:22 PM - ANNABETH:
I’m sorry this is so
last minute but we’re
having some friends over
at Percy’s place
tonight and we’d
love if u could come.
Can you make it?

She locked her phone and tucked it under her thigh, returning her attention to Mrs. O’Leary. The guys continued to talk about the guest list and plans for the evening, occasionally pausing to debate about whether or not they needed to bring the patio chairs in from the terrace for extra seating— except that would require moving the drink table away from the windows to clear a path to the door.

Annabeth listened, knowing full well that Percy would wait until the topic had died and Connor and Frank were sufficiently distracted before quietly and unceremoniously moving the table aside and bringing the chairs inside himself. 

The conversation seemed to fade from her focus as she looked down at the sleepy face of the dog in her lap and thought about how strange it was that they were doing this at all. This stupid arrangement had trickled out into their lives in a lot of ways, but it was still strange to think of how their lie was affecting so many others as well. People that may have never had cause or opportunity to meet would all be gathered in this room in just a few hours, and there was something kind of cool about that, she thought. 

Her phone buzzed beneath her leg, pulling her attention back to the present. 

4:45 PM - PIPER:
What time?

4:45 PM - ANNABETH:
Sixish? I know it’s late
notice but it’s going
to be super casual. You
can show up whenever

4:46 PM - PIPER:
Sounds fun. Text
me the address?

-

Somehow, despite their plan to keep things low-key, word of the party had gotten a bit further out of their immediate circle than they’d intended. It was still a reasonable sized gathering, but things were less intimate than Annabeth had been hoping for. She was really looking forward to introducing Reyna to the rest of their friends, but she’d barely even laid eyes on her since she’d arrived with Katie, Hazel, and Travis almost two hours ago. 

The party was in full swing now. The music was mostly background noise to the sound of conversation, but even that was being drowned out by the whooping that erupted from the living room each time someone finished a lap in Mario Kart. Currently, Connor and Travis were in first and second place respectively as they headed into the final lap and nothing could have broken their focus away from the television.

Annabeth was beginning to feel the effects of the drinks she’d already had and, since it was still early, on her next trip to the kitchen she opted to fill her cup with water instead. As she was making her way through the crowded living room, she heard Connor yell out in victory and couldn’t help but smile. 

She happened to be near enough to the front door to hear the faint sound of knocking and hurried over to answer it, surprised to find Piper standing nervously in the hallway. 

“Hey,” Annabeth beamed, stepping forward to give her a hug. “I’m so glad you made it.”

“This place is, like, really nice,” she remarked as she pulled back from the hug, her eyes still scanning the hallway. “And you’ve seen my place.”

“You haven’t even seen the inside yet,” Annabeth laughed. She waved Piper forward. “Come on in— let me get you a drink.”

Together, they weaved through the party and made it to the drink table and a minute later, Piper had her very own red plastic cup. She held it with both hands, rocking on her heels anxiously as she looked around.

“Lot of people,” she said, leaning toward Annabeth. “When you said you were having a few friends over I thought you meant, like, your roommates and Connor or something.”

“Well, it is a little more crowded than we expected,” Annabeth laughed. “All roommates are present and accounted for— and Connor obviously. Percy invited a few of the guys on the swim team, and they invited a couple of people, and you know how it goes.”

“For sure,” Piper nodded. “So, do I get to meet your roommates, finally?”

“Do you want to?” Annabeth asked, somewhat surprised. She’d never even considered the fact that Piper might want to meet her roommates. Despite the fact that she spent about the same amount of time with Piper as she did with the people that she actually lived with, those two things had always been separate in her mind. “I’m sure they’d love that.”

“Duh,” Piped grinned. She looped her arm through Annabeth’s. “Lead the way.”

As Annabeth carved a trail across the room, she couldn’t help the soft smile of relief that came to her lips. Just six months ago, Piper being so casually touchy with her would’ve set her heart racing and she probably wouldn’t have had the wits to form a complete sentence at all. And a week ago, she would’ve been more afraid of Piper actually hitting her than hitting on her— but now, it seemed that they’d finally struck a nice equilibrium.

There was still a small part of Annabeth that wondered if she’d made a mistake by not telling Piper the truth about Percy that night outside the diner. Maybe she would have understood; maybe they could’ve had something after all. But even as she led Piper through the apartment, she knew now that she’d made the right call. 

Maybe Piper didn’t know the truth, but she didn’t need to. Even Annabeth wasn’t entirely sure what to call her feelings about Percy, but she knew without question they’d only gotten more complicated since that night Piper had asked her out, and she was feeling very grateful suddenly that she wasn’t currently in the middle of trying to dissect her feelings for two people. Besides, Piper seemed happy, and what more could Annabeth ask for? (The irony of Connor being a contributing factor to that happiness was not lost on her, either.)

“Haze?” Annabeth asked, pressing the cold outside of her cup against Hazel’s shoulder as they approached. 

Hazel startled at the touch, wiping the condensation away from her skin. “Hey,” she smiled as she turned. “You snuck up on me.”

“I wanted you to officially meet Piper,” she said, gesturing to her side. “And yes, I do realize how insane it is that we’ve been training together for two years and you’ve never met.”

“Oh my gosh,” Hazel grinned, handing her cup to Katie and opening her arms as she stepped toward Piper. “It’s so great to meet you! We’ve heard so much about you, obviously, but it’s always nice to put a face to a name.”

“This is Hazel,” Annabeth offered. “She’s the same year as you. And that’s Katie, holding the cups.”

“You know me,” Katie smirked, holding both her and Hazel’s cups in the air for emphasis, “the human cupholder. Good to meet you, Piper.”

“Yeah, you too,” she smiled as Hazel finally released her. 

“Where’s Reyna?” Annabeth asked. 

“Oh, she left her phone in the car so Travis walked out to the parking garage with her,” Katie answered. “They’ve been gone a while, though, so they should be back any second.”

As if on cue, the front door opened again and Travis and Reyna appeared in the front hall. Annabeth caught Reyna’s attention and waved her over. She glanced back at Piper. “Have you met Travis?”

“No, but I’ve heard a lot about him from Connor,” she laughed. “I feel like I know him.”

“Connor likes to trash talk,” Travis smiled as he extended a hand to Piper. “You must be the teammate that’s gonna get our Annabeth to the Olympics.”

“I’m trying my damnedest,” Piper laughed, shaking his hand. 

“And this is our new roommate, Reyna,” Annabeth said, gesturing in Reyna’s direction. “She just moved in a few weeks ago.”

Reyna turned her head at the sound of her name, a bright smile coming to her lips as she met Piper’s eye. Even though she looked like she wanted to speak, a short silence lingered in the air between them. Finally, she blinked away the frozen moment. “Sorry, I just—” she stammered, shaking her head slightly as she held out a hand toward Piper. “It’s good to meet you.”

With all of the introductions squared away, things seemed to relax a bit. Reyna had truly not missed a beat when it came to knitting herself into their friend group— she was as warm and open as ever, telling stories and matching Travis’s ribbing joke for joke. Annabeth laughed more than she had in a while, a very welcome distraction from the past few weeks. 

Her cheeks were beginning to ache from the smile that she couldn’t seem to wipe from her face as Piper placed her newly refilled cup into her hand. A moment later, she felt arms winding around her waist and a chin resting on top of her shoulder.

“Can I steal my girl for a minute?” Percy asked, leaning his head against hers. 

“Gross,” Katie tossed out, though her smile betrayed her as she pressed herself into Travis’s side.

“Leave them alone,” Hazel giggled, her face warm and bright. “They’re cute.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Travis sighed, waving a hand in their direction. “Get out of here.”

“Much appreciated,” Percy laughed as he straightened and loosened his grip on her waist only enough to tug her along as he stepped backward. When it became clear that this arrangement wasn’t conducive for walking without causing injury, she wriggled free, twisting around to face him. 

“Is everything okay?” she asked quietly as he led her up the hallway. 

Percy nodded. “You’ll see,” he assured her as he rested a hand in the small of her back and continued to guide her toward his bedroom. 

“Where are we—”

“My God, you’re impatient,” he interrupted, reaching for the doorknob and ushering her forward. He took her by the shoulders and steered her toward the desk where his laptop was waiting, opened to some syndicated news article that featured a few of the photos from the SF Monthly shoot. “Sit.”

“I don’t really—”

“Sit,” he repeated, voice a bit more stern as he stepped away to close the door. She raised an eyebrow in surprise but obeyed, settling into the desk chair as he sat down on the end of the bed a couple of feet away from her. “Read.”

“Percy,” she began to object, though the rest of her protest died on her tongue as she saw the disappointed frown spreading across his face. Annabeth sighed dramatically as she turned back to face the computer and began to read. 

The knot of tension that had been building in her stomach since she’d realized he wanted her to read something regarding their magazine appearance began to loosen as her eyes skimmed the lines. What she’d expected to see, just another regurgitation of the article that Chloe had written, was actually a complete reconfiguration; one that highlighted the success that she and Piper had celebrated this season rather than downplaying it in favor of focusing on the recent decline. 

She clung to every word, her fingers shaking slightly as she raised her hand to the trackpad and scrolled slowly down the page. And finally, at the very end of the article, her eyes landed on the closing lines. 

"Annabeth Chase is the most determined athlete I know,” says boyfriend and fellow Olympic hopeful, Percy Jackson. “She and Piper have earned the right to represent our nation, and I really hope that the FIVB will give them the opportunity to show just how much they deserve to compete. And even if they don’t, I couldn’t be more proud of her."

Annabeth swallowed before she turned, spinning the chair slowly to face Percy. “You did another interview.”

He nodded. After a moment, he held out a hand in silent question and she rose to her feet without a fight. She stepped toward him and took his hand, hoping that he didn’t notice how clammy hers had become. “You remember that night at your dad’s?”

“How could I forget?” she laughed dryly. “Sitting on the curb, bawling my eyes out?”

Percy smiled softly. “Before that. Inside.”

“When you called my dad an asshole right to his face?”

“I don’t think I ever used the word asshole,” he objected, “but I’m glad the sentiment was clear.” Percy squeezed her hand. “I told him that he couldn’t see how incredible you are because he’s so set on punishing you for what happened back then. You remember that?”

Annabeth swallowed again, nodding slowly. She didn’t really care to remember that night. 

“The thing is, it’s not just him,” Percy continued after a moment. He rose to his feet, standing in front of her with a searching expression in his eyes. “You’re just as guilty as he is.”

“Percy, I—” Her words stopped abruptly as he shook his head.

“No, you need to hear this.” He waited a moment, ensuring that she didn’t intend to interrupt him again before he continued. “You beat yourself up more than anyone, even though you know it’s not fair. You don’t let yourself see the progress you’ve made or truly grasp the importance of your accomplishments, all because you’re still viewing yourself through this lens that you formed four years ago.”

She lowered her gaze, her eyes flitting to the floor for only a moment before she felt two fingers on her chin. He lifted her face slowly, eyes intense. 

“You don’t get to do that; do you hear me?” he asked, voice soft but firm. “You don’t get to give up. Things are tough right now, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you doubt yourself because of the opinions of a bunch of people that don’t even know you.”

She wanted to believe him, despite how beautifully unbelievable the words sounded as they came from his lips. But putting that kind of faith into him felt too big for her to handle then, too dangerous and permanent. It wasn’t fair to Percy because he’d never been anything but good to her, but the same old wounds that he was warning her about were the ones nagging at her now.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were doing another interview?” she asked, chewing her lip nervously. 

“Goddammit, Annabeth,” Percy sighed. He stepped past her, closing the lid on the laptop and pushing in the desk chair. His hands lingered on the back of the chair for a moment as he took a deep breath.  “You really don’t make anything easy, do you?”

“You could just tell me—”

“They called this morning,” he answered as he pushed away from the chair and turned back to her. “I wasn’t keeping it from you or anything, it just hadn’t come up.”

She should have expected something like this would happen eventually. It only made sense that he would be contacted apart from her on occasion— after all, Chloe had reached out to her individually after the Salt Lake tournament, and Percy hadn’t been upset about that. There was also the fact that Percy had a relationship with the media in a way that she couldn’t really understand. He was better at this than she was, so it shouldn’t really surprise her that he would know how to put the right spin onto a story. 

“So,” Annabeth said, slowly putting the pieces together, “you just decided to take the opportunity to try and make me and Piper look better. Damage control.”

Percy frowned. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, shaking his head as he sighed. “Sure,” he said after a moment. “Yeah, I guess I just thought it would help.”

“Well,” she shrugged, pushing her hands into her pockets, “thanks, I guess.” 

He nodded, his expression still somber. After a moment, he seemed to pull the mask back up however, running a hand through his hair with an amused laugh. When he looked at her again, he’d replaced most of the strange disappointment in his face with an almost-believable smile. 

“You should probably turn your shirt inside-out or something before we head back out there,” he joked, though his words still sounded slightly forced. “People are gonna wonder what we were doing in here for so long.”

“Oh yeah? And you’d rather them think we were making out instead of reading some dumb news article— is that it?” Annabeth asked, trying to keep her tone light. 

“Obviously,” he smirked, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Percy turned, starting for the door. “I have a reputation to uphold.”

Annabeth rose to her feet as he opened the bedroom door and the sounds of music, Mario Kart, and all of their friends laughing and talking replaced the silence. “Percy?” When he turned back, she couldn’t help but feel like he looked a little tired. “Thanks.”

He glanced toward the hall for a moment before he looked back again. “I told you that I’ve got your back,” Percy said. “Always. Do you still believe that?”

She came to a stop right in front of him. Her eyes looked him over once before they settled on his face. “I do.”

“Good,” he nodded, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they began to make their way back out to the party. “That’s enough for now.”

Chapter Text

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 44

“Order up!”

“Got it,” Annabeth called back, dropping the stack of dirty plates in the bus bin before spinning quickly to stack the plates waiting in the window onto her tray. The diner was buzzing; not overwhelmingly busy, but hectic enough to keep her feet moving nonstop. “How’s that order for table eight coming, Grove?”

Grover nodded, placing three new patties on the grill. “I’ll have it up in a few.”

Annabeth lifted the tray, navigating carefully behind Medea who was busy checking customers out at the counter and making her way toward the booth in the far corner. She apologized for the wait as she handed the plates out to the family, even though they were more than understanding. By the time she’d checked on the other tables in her section and made her way back to the kitchen with a tray full of dirty plates, Grover was already ringing the bell to let her know that the next order was ready to be taken out. 

Nights like this had always been her favorite. She had only worked a handful of night shifts since the spring, but she’d come to appreciate them even more in their scarcity. Mornings were busy in a different way — with energized conversations over coffee or half-dazed students gathered around a stack of textbooks as they crammed for their morning exams — but the night shift was always a little bit magical. There was something in the air on evenings like this that made her job feel easy. 

Her feet never stopped for more than a moment at a time and before she knew it, the rush had passed and it was closing in on ten o’clock. There was a couple seated at the counter, flipping through a few wedding planning magazines as they picked at a plate of cheese fries and talked excitedly, but the rest of the dining room was empty.

“Good night for tips,” Annabeth noted as she slid into the seat across from Medea and reached for a handful of forks and a stack of napkins. “I kind of miss the night shift, you know.”

“Well, I’ll swap you back anytime, hon,” she said without looking up from the silverware she was rolling, “but I know we’ll miss you on the morning shift. You’ve whipped my early birds into shape.”

She rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Whatever.”

“I mean it,” Medea insisted. “You should take a look at the profitability report from the last three months— there’s a noticeable difference. Less waste, less complaints from customers. Should’ve moved you to opening a long time ago.”

“It’s been nice to have nights free,” Annabeth admitted. 

“Thanks for covering tonight, by the way.” Medea gathered up the finished rolls and stacked them neatly in the bin at the end of the table before she grabbed another stack of napkins and continued without missing a beat. “Sorry it was so last minute.”

“No problem,” Annabeth shrugged. “I didn’t have any plans anyway.”

That, of course, wasn’t entirely true. She had a standing Sunday night arrangement with Percy these days that involved slowly working their way through their favorite movies, and tonight was supposed to be her turn. She’d been talking up the movie for weeks now and Percy had seemed a little too okay with her bailing at the last minute when she’d agreed to cover the evening shift. 

“How are things with that boy?” Dee asked, looking up at last and shooting Annabeth a knowing smirk. “Sally’s kid— you’re still seeing him, I guess?”

“Yeah,” Annabeth nodded, feeling her cheeks blush faintly. “Things are great.”

“Great, huh?”

“We’re planning for a winter wedding.”

Medea laughed, stacking the rest of the silverware in the bin and sliding toward the end of the booth. “Better go for spring— weather’s more predictable.”

“Noted,” Annabeth said with a roll of her eyes as she followed Medea back toward the waitress station. She slid the tray of silverware into place before she picked up a stack of menus and a bottle of cleaner. Annabeth grabbed a couple of clean cloths and followed her down to the far end of the counter. “I hope that my personal life hasn’t interfered with your relationship with Sally Jackson.”

“Sally has nothing but good things to say about you, doll,” Dee said as she shook her head and began wiping down her stack of menus.

“Wait, really?” Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Should she have bad things to say?”

“Well, no, I guess not,” she answered, her brow furrowing slightly. “I guess I was just surprised because we’ve only met a few times.”

“Well, you must’ve made quite an impression on her then.” Medea shrugged. “Sally’s a tough one to win over but you seem to have done it.”

The bell above the door chimed and Annabeth looked up, a smile spreading across her lips at the sight. She set the cloth and cleaner aside, hurrying around to the front of the counter and greeting Connor with a hug. “What are you doing here?”

He nodded toward the door again and Annabeth saw the group walking up the sidewalk: Frank, Percy, Katie, Travis, Hazel, Reyna, and even Piper. “We heard you were working,” Connor smiled. “Thought we’d bring the party to you instead.”

“Hey, Diner Girl,” Percy grinned as he walked through the front door. She was already moving toward him, meeting him halfway as he gave her a tight hug. 

“Sorry,” she said as she stepped away. “I’m sure I smell awful.”

He leaned over and inhaled dramatically. “No worse than usual.” 

Annabeth shoved him gently before turning to greet the rest of the crew. “You can try to cram into the corner booth,” she said, gesturing toward the booth that could comfortably hold six of their party, “or you can spread out. Go ahead and get settled in and I’ll bring you some menus in just a second.”

When she made it back to the counter, Medea had already stacked up eight freshly cleaned menus and was holding them out for her. “Go sit a while.” Annabeth looked surprised but Medea just nodded and held up a hand. “Go on— it’s not busy. I’ll holler if I need you.”

“Thanks, Dee,” Annabeth smiled as she took the menus and made her way toward the back of the diner where all of her friends had, unsurprisingly, decided to cram into the corner booth. When she came to a stop at the end of the table, she set the menus down and laughed. “Room for one more?”

“Duh,” Reyna smirked. She was next to last in the row, with Katie on one side and Piper on the end. Without much warning, she wound an arm around Piper’s waist and pulled her snug against her side, creating just enough space on the end of the booth for Annabeth to perch on the edge. Piper giggled (actually giggled) and Annabeth met Connor’s eye immediately. He looked like he was barely holding back a laugh of his own, squished between Frank and Travis, but looked otherwise unfazed. 

“Here,” Percy said, rising from his spot on the other end of the booth and grabbing a chair from a nearby table. The row spread out automatically to take advantage of the space he’d cleared before he even settled into the chair he’d placed at the end of the table. “Doesn’t that make more sense?”

“I think that they like being difficult,” Annabeth smiled. 

“Most of them are your friends,” Percy nodded, “so it’s not surprising.”

“Harsh, Jackson,” Travis called out from the other end of the table, draping one arm around Katie and resting the other on the back of the booth behind Connor. “I thought we were your friends, too.”

“You know, we add a gratuity for parties of six or more,” Medea teased as she approached the table with her order book already primed. “But I’ll let it slide this time.”

They ordered their drinks and a few plates of fries and for a moment things were mostly calm. With Percy seated on the end, the seating arrangement was a bit more comfortable now. Piper and Reyna were deep in conversation to her right, and Katie, Travis, and Connor were bickering about something with emphatic hand gestures on the other side of Reyna. Then, across the table from Annabeth, Frank and Hazel were having their own quiet discussion.

“So how’d you end up here?” Annabeth asked, turning her attention to Percy as she poked a straw into her Dr. Pepper. “Throwing a party without me?”

“Percy texted us about an hour ago and asked everyone to meet up,” Hazel answered before Percy had a chance. “Thought you could use the company.”

“Grove told me it was kind of slow,” he explained sheepishly, “and since you had to blow off our plans to come in to work, I figured the least we could do was make your shift a bit more fun.”

Annabeth smiled, reaching out until her hand found his beneath the table. “Thanks.”

They managed to keep their conversation at a reasonable volume despite the multiple different topics of discussion that were still going on around the table. By the time Grover brought out their fries, the couple at the counter had cleared out and the diner was empty except for their now rowdy group. 

The door had barely closed when Grover’s eyes lit up. “Stoll,” he called out, and both Connor and Travis looked up. “Uh, Stoll #2.”

Travis cackled, digging his elbow into Connor’s ribs. “Ha,” he grinned. “Second place Stoll.”

“Shut up,” he groaned, rubbing his side and wincing before he turned his attention back toward Grover. “‘Sup, Grove?”

“Jukebox Roulette?”

“Oh, God,” Annabeth said, bringing a hand to her forehead. “Please, no. I’m begging you.”

Percy looked between them, clearly confused. “What’s Jukebox Roulette?”

Connor somehow managed to pull his feet into the booth, standing up and stepping over the back of the seat before he crawled out of the next booth. As soon as he was on the floor, he clapped Grover on the back and brought two fingers to his lips in a whistle that got everyone’s attention. 

“Alright, everyone listen up,” he grinned as Grover made his way toward the front door and flipped the lock. “We’re gonna play a game.”

Jukebox Roulette, a game that she, Connor, and Grover had made up on one of the many dead closing shifts she’d worked before she’d switched to mornings, had very simple rules. By spinning a ketchup bottle on the table, a singer is chosen at random, and the next spin determines who would choose the song. To her surprise, pretty much everyone was into the idea.

It took a little coercion to get Frank on his feet, but once he’d loosened up, he surprised everyone with his voice as he pulled Hazel out of the booth and they both danced along to ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’. One round, when the bottle had landed perfectly between Connor and Travis, they’d tag-teamed a duet of ‘You’re the One That I Want’ from Grease with such dramatic flair that Annabeth got a stitch in her side from laughing. Piper had surprised everyone with a phenomenal rendition of Friday, I’m in Love and Percy picked out a Jonas Brothers song for Annabeth that had everyone on their feet and singing along.

Almost everyone sounded absolutely awful and it was the most fun she’d had in ages.

Medea had long since abandoned the party, entrusting Grover with the duty of locking up before she made her way home for the night, and nearly three hours later, with throats dry from singing and faces sore from smiling, the group tumbled out onto the sidewalk. Everyone seemed to agree on one thing: Jukebox Roulette was a hit. 

As they all made their way back to their cars and said their goodbyes, Annabeth lingered at the end of the sidewalk with Percy. “I guess you rode with Frank?”

He nodded, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, he’s in the car already. Did you see—”

“Him and Hazel?” Annabeth interjected before Percy could continue. “Is that a thing?”

“It seems like it could be,” Percy laughed, glancing toward the parking lot. “I hope it was okay that we crashed tonight. I wasn’t sure if you’d be into it.”

“Are you kidding?” she asked. “This was so much fun, Percy. I’m so glad you brought everyone down.”

He smiled, looking down at his feet as he rocked on his heels. After a moment, his smile faded. “So,” he said, looking up. “Tomorrow.”

Annabeth crossed her arms over her torso, shifting her own gaze to the ground now. “Yep.”

“Nervous?”

She used the toe of her sneaker to force a piece of gravel out of the crack in the sidewalk and kicked it toward the grass. “I think I’d be crazy not to be, don’t you?”

Percy shrugged. “Probably.” There was a long minute where the only sounds were the last few departing goodbyes as their friends got into their cars and closed the doors, followed by the sound of ignitions turning over. He reached a hand out, resting it on her bicep gently. “You’re still going to come over tomorrow, right?”

Annabeth nodded. “Yeah.” 

“And results go up at three?” 

She nodded again. 

“Are you going to sleep at all tonight?”

Annabeth exhaled with a dry laugh, finally pulling her eyes up again. “Probably not.”

His hand fell away from her arm, returning to his pocket. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, shaking her head. “If it gets too bad, I’ll just call Connor.”

He nodded, looking toward where Frank’s car was idling in the lot. “Well, if he doesn’t answer, you can always call me.”

Annabeth watched his expression carefully, a bit confused by the look in his eye that she could only just make out beneath the flickering streetlight. Something between them felt oddly forced and she couldn’t quite figure out why. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she smiled as she stepped off of the curb. “Be careful getting back, okay?”

“Yeah, you too,” he said, following her. Just as she turned to walk toward her car, his voice stopped her. “Beth?”

When she looked back, she was surprised to see that he was closer than she’d expected. Before she even realized what was happening, she felt his hands on either side of her face and the warm, familiar pressure of his lips against hers. And just as quickly, it was gone. She hoped that the darkness of the lot concealed most of her shocked expression, hiding the searing red heat that lingered on her cheeks as his hands fell away. 

“Everything will work out, okay?” he said, toying with the end of her messy braid. He met her eyes again. “I promise.” When he looked at her like that, she found it difficult not to agree. Annabeth nodded, her heart still loud in her ears. He stepped away at last. “‘Night, Beth.”

Her feet felt frozen as she watched him retreat toward Frank’s car and drop down into the passenger seat. The sound of the door closing snapped her back to reality and she shook herself free from the daze, letting shaky legs lead her toward her car.

-

DAYS UNTIL OLYMPICS: 43

JUNE 14 - FIVB OLYMPIC RANKING DAY

The next morning, Annabeth was feeling especially grateful that she’d swapped shifts the night before. Being able to sleep in that morning meant that she was able to compensate for the lack of sleep that she’d gotten the night before when she’d lay awake with her mind racing. It wouldn’t be fair to put all of the blame on the ranking announcement, even though that was a large contributor. The part of her brain that wasn’t panicked about the results was replaying that final moment in the parking lot and trying to decide if that last minute kiss had meant anything.

For once, it hadn’t seemed planned. Sure, there was a chance that Frank could see them through the shadows, but only if he was really looking, and even that felt like a bit of a stretch. But if he hadn’t been doing it for show, if that kiss hadn’t been to prove a point to anyone, then— the meaning behind it was too much to consider. She couldn’t possibly unravel the weight of that possibility at the moment, not when she already felt like she was going to barf before she’d even gotten out of bed. 

It was nearly eleven-thirty when she finally dragged herself to her feet and forced herself to shower. Afterwards, she dressed quickly, throwing on denim shorts and a faded t-shirt with the Aegis logo on the front before she threw her hair into a bun and made her way out of her room for the first time all day. 

The rest of the apartment was empty but a massive bouquet of sunflowers caught her eye as soon as she walked out. A card had been propped up against the vase and she peeled open the envelope carefully. 

Chase,
Best of luck today! We love you no matter what.
- xoxo Hazel, Katie,
Reyna, Connor, and Travis

Annabeth smiled, staring at the card until she realized that her vision had begun to blur and she looked up at the ceiling to blink back the tears in her eyes. She set the card on the counter for only a moment before she thought better of it and dropped it into her bag as she made her way toward the door and grabbed her keys from the hook. 

By the time she made it to Percy’s apartment, the knot in her stomach had tripled in size. She let herself in, unsurprised to find Percy sprawled out on the couch with Mrs. O’Leary fast asleep on his chest. The moment the door closed, however, she lifted her head and as soon as she spotted Annabeth, she was off. Percy groaned as she used him as a launch pad and made her way toward the door. 

“Hey, girl,” Annabeth said softly, setting her bag and keys on the counter before she knelt to greet Mrs. O’Leary. She scratched behind her ears, smiling as the dog’s eyes fell closed and she leaned into the touch. “I sure am glad to see you.”

“She’s a traitor,” Percy called out as he sat up. “I’ve been hanging with her all morning and the second you show up—”

“You’re just angry because she’s such a good judge of character,” Annabeth smiled as she stood again. “Lazy day?”

“Hardly,” he said, stretching as he got to his feet. “Training ran long today— my coach wants me putting in extra gym time before Omaha. I just got home like an hour ago.”

Annabeth glanced at the clock. “You were at the Aegis for five hours?” 

“Yeah, and I’m beat,” he sighed, leaning to rest his elbows on the opposite side of the island. 

“I wouldn’t have come over if I’d realized you were so tired,” Annabeth frowned. “You should rest.”

“It’s not like we were planning to go on a ten mile hike or anything,” he laughed. Percy pushed off of the counter and turned toward the fridge to snag a bottle of water. “Besides, I didn’t want you to be alone today. We have to celebrate later.”

“Right,” she sighed. It’d been almost three weeks since they’d returned from Salt Lake and whatever confidence she’d had in their performance at the time had all but dissolved in the time that had passed since. She still wasn’t entirely convinced that they’d be celebrating at all.

“Cheer up, Diner Girl,” Percy said, sliding a bottle of water her way before he turned back toward the living room. “Come on— you can pick the movie.”

They’d barely settled onto the couch when the front door opened and Mrs. O’Leary darted over to investigate. “Hey,” Frank called out, holding the door open for Hazel. “I was hoping you guys would be here.”

Hazel grinned, holding up the bag in her hands. “We brought sushi.”

The impromptu lunch date ended up being a pretty good distraction from the anxiety that was still growing in her chest, but even Percy began to get antsy as the clock ticked closer on. Five minutes before three, he retreated to his room and returned with his laptop, propping it on the coffee table with a window already opened to the FIVB homepage and the wait began. Annabeth sat on the middle cushion of the couch, Percy on one side and Hazel on the other as Frank looked on from his spot across the room and tried to keep from bouncing his leg nervously. It was so silent in the room that the buzz of her cell phone startled them.

2:59PM - PIPER:
No matter what happens,
you’re the best partner
I could ask for.

Annabeth took a deep breath as the clock at the top of her screen rolled over and her stomach dropped. Percy rested his hand on her leg, meeting her eye. “Ready?”

She must have nodded or done something else to indicate that she was ready, because Percy leaned forward slowly and clicked to refresh the page. He pulled the computer into his lap and began to scroll while Annabeth’s eyes were frozen to the spot on the table where the laptop had been just a moment before. Hazel squeezed her hand tightly and Annabeth tried to silence the pounding in her head. 

“Okay, I’ve got it,” Percy murmured, running a finger down the screen and searching for their name in the list. “Chase-McLean, USA…” he said, and Annabeth turned to meet his eye. She knew the answer before he even spoke and the fist around her heart clenched tighter. “Sixteen.”

The room was deathly silent, with only the rhythmic sound of Mrs. O’Leary’s snoring to punctuate the quiet. Annabeth felt so numb that she barely registered the feeling of Percy resting his hand on her back.

“I don’t—” Hazel shook her head. “So, what happens now? What does that mean?”

Annabeth managed to pull her teeth out of her bottom lip. “It means we finished the season in sixteenth place, Haze,” she said quietly. “We’re not going to the Olympics.”

Chapter Text

The first night was the hardest.

Percy drove her home and Hazel helped her into bed. Reyna, who’d been with Piper all afternoon, got home a few hours later and seemed to not quite know what to say. Annabeth thought that was probably fair. Katie stayed with her until she fell asleep and fielded the incoming calls and texts for her. 

Annabeth wanted to tell them that they were all being way too nice but she couldn’t really bring herself to say too much. 

The next morning, Annabeth called into work for the first time ever. Medea was more than understanding and Annabeth knew immediately that she knew the real reason that she wasn’t feeling up to working her scheduled shift. 

Instead, she laid in bed and scrolled mindlessly through dozens of news articles about the fifteen teams that were going to Greece, along with the other international invitees. It was pointless torture and she knew that she shouldn’t put herself through it but she couldn’t help it. 

When the email notification appeared, she should have cleared it away immediately. She should have moved the message to the Trash folder without giving him the satisfaction of opening it, but she didn’t. And the moment her thumb pressed the subject line, her face crumpled. 

To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Condolences

Annie,
Better luck next time.
Always, Luke
P.S. - I’ll be sure to send you pictures from Greece.

She cried until the tears stopped coming. Her throat felt like sandpaper and she thought that there was a very real chance that her eyes may never stop burning. Everything she’d done over the last four years to grow and move on felt wasted and that stupid email just proved it. 

Even after withdrawing from the Salt Lake tournament, Silena and Julia had still managed to maintain their place in the rankings and held onto their comfortable eleventh place spot. The worst part was that there was a sizable part of Annabeth that couldn’t be angry about it, simply because she knew that they deserved it. The other American team, a pair that had bested Annabeth and Piper more than once, had come in fourteenth.

She knew what it all meant, really. With their scores so close to those of the team that had ranked fifteenth, it was overwhelmingly obvious that their loss in Utah had cost them the spot. If she had only been able to keep herself together, if she hadn’t let Luke get to her, it would be her and Piper’s names on that list. 

But she’d failed. 

Luke’s plan had worked flawlessly and she’d slipped up and lost her edge. And when the whistle blew and the game was called for the other team, their fate had been sealed and it was all her fault. It was happening again, just like last time. She wasn’t strong enough to stand up to Luke, and it was costing her and her teammate the thing that they’d worked so hard for. 

Shame buried itself deep in her chest, unrelenting even in the long, lonely hours she spent locked away. Annabeth couldn’t look anyone in the eye— too guilty to feel their judgment, too embarrassed to face them and see their sympathy. 

So, she did the only thing that she knew to do: she hid. 

-

On Friday, five days after the FIVB results had been announced, Annabeth was awoken by the sound of a rhythmic, muffled pounding coming from the other side of her closed bedroom door. A moment later, she heard the sound of the apartment’s front door opening, then Katie’s nervous voice.

“I really don’t think she wants—”

“She’ll get over it,” a second voice said, and Annabeth sat up at the realization that it was Percy. The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the living room, followed by knocking on her door. 

“Go away, Percy,” she muttered, only loud enough that she thought he’d be able to hear her. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Chase.” She heard him sigh and could practically picture him running a hand over his face in exasperation. “Come on; let me in.”

Annabeth didn’t answer this time, sliding up to press her back against her headboard instead. The knob turned as he tested the lock and the door cracked open slowly. When she didn’t make any effort to stop him, he stepped into the doorway and she pressed her forehead into her knees. The door clicked closed again and she felt the weight shift as he settled onto the mattress beside her. 

“I’m fine,” she insisted, though the words were muffled by the oversized hoodie that she’d swaddled herself in. 

“I know,” he said quietly, sliding up to sit beside her. He didn’t say anything else and after a moment, she felt the pressure of his arm against hers as he leaned closer. They sat in silence for a long time, their arms brushing together just like they’d been that morning at the Labyrinth when he’d first told her about his stepfather. She remembered how all she’d wanted then was to make him feel like he wasn’t alone and she wondered if maybe that’s all Percy was trying to do, too.

After several minutes, she lifted her head, pulling the sleeve of her sweatshirt over her palm and wiping her cheeks dry. “You didn’t have to come check on me.”

“You weren’t answering your phone,” Percy replied. “I’ve been calling every day. No one’s heard from you since Sunday night. I mean, I knew you were alive just because I’ve talked to Hazel when I’ve run into her at our apartment, but no one’s actually laid eyes on you.” When she didn’t say anything, she felt him shift slightly, wrapping an arm over her shoulders and pulling her into his chest. “You don’t have to talk, Diner Girl. I just needed to be sure that you were okay.”

The strangest sense of déjà vu swept over her and, suddenly, she was seventeen again— crying softly while Connor tried his best to hold her together without having any idea how to help. She could almost smell her childhood home, the lemongrass candles that her stepmother always burned mingling with the faint scent of the pear tree outside her bedroom window. It seized her like panic, washing over her with the crippling feeling of stagnation. 

Four years had passed but she was still in the exact same place: crying on her bed, wrapped in the arms of someone that she couldn’t be honest with, letting her dreams slip away. Luke had been behind it then, and she couldn’t help but feel like he’d played a large role in keeping her down this time as well. 

Her breaths were growing shorter, the memory of Luke filling her mind as she was catapulted back into the office of the Castellans’ gym. She could practically feel his hands on her in real time, could see the dark, hungry look in his blue eyes even as she squeezed hers closed.

But this time, it was Percy’s arms that wrapped around her and held her tight, breaking through the panic and grounding her in the now.  

“It’s okay, Beth,” he said gently, his voice breaking through. “You’re okay.”

She breathed him in as he stroked her hair and slowly the memory faded. The office faded into her bedroom at her parents’ house, and eventually, even that landscape fell away, leaving her with only the present: a dimly lit bedroom where she was safe.  

Even long after the panic attack had passed, Percy held her. 

She’d finally stopped crying and instead was staring at the shifting light that danced on the ceiling as it creeped through the blinds. When it was all said and done, she couldn’t have been sure if it had been minutes or hours that they stayed like that, but Percy didn’t so much as fidget. He was exactly where she needed him to be. 

Maybe that’s why she was finally able to find her voice. 

“I got an email from Luke,” she said, her words sounding too loud in the room that had been silent for so long. Percy’s arms tensed around her ever so slightly, but he didn’t say anything. “It was short but it said enough.”

“What did he say?” Percy’s tone was flat.

Annabeth hesitated, knowing that it would only upset Percy if she told him— but she’d known that when she’d told him about the email in the first place, hadn’t she? She’d known that he’d be bothered, and it was only natural that he’d ask about the contents of the message. Maybe that’s why she’d brought it up at all. She didn't have the strength to be angry at the moment; maybe what she really wanted was for someone to be angry on her behalf.

“‘Better luck next time,’” she answered. “He sent it on Monday.”

“Did you reply?”

“Of course not.”

“Good,” he said simply, running his hand over her hair again. “Don’t.”

After another minute, Annabeth sat up slowly. She tried to ignore the ache in her lower back from the odd angle she’d been bent at for the past hour, suddenly feeling very guilty for falling apart the way that she had. But Percy looked completely unfazed. If anything, he looked like he was happy to be there. 

“If you’re going to stay anyway,” she said, sniffling slightly, “we could at least watch that movie.”

Percy let his head drop back against the headboard as he laughed, clearly relieved that her spirits had improved at least enough that she was teasing him again. “Sounds good, Beth,” he nodded. “Go get your laptop.”

They’d only made it about twenty minutes into the movie when Percy reached forward and pressed Pause. Annabeth looked over, confused, but Percy spoke before she could ask what was wrong. 

“I want you to come to Omaha with me.”

“Percy,” she frowned, “I don’t know.”

There were a lot of reasons she should want to go to the qualifiers with him, not the least of which being that it would look good for her to be there cheering him on now that she had all the time in the world. Besides, that had been the unspoken plan over the last few months, right? But things had gotten so complicated since the first time the notion of her traveling to Nebraska had been mentioned. When they’d first talked about it, they were just friends. 

Now, she was certain that what she felt for him was definitely stronger than just friends and going halfway across the country together felt like a much bigger deal. She’d barely managed to keep her cool when they’d shared a room in Utah for one night— how was she going to get through a week and a half of it being just the two of them?

“You don’t have to come if you really don’t want to,” he said, and even though she could tell he was making a valiant effort at concealing it, his disappointment broke through. “But if you can’t, then I’m going by myself and I just thought, you know,” Percy shrugged, “it would be more fun if I didn’t have to go alone.”

“I don’t know if I can get the time off of work,” she said, trying to think of any excuse. “It’s always hard to get shifts covered in the summer with people traveling so much, and the schedule for the month is already out.”

“Luckily, I already have it on good authority that Dee would let you go," offering her a sheepish smile that made his dimple stand out even more than usual. When she raised her eyebrows in silent question, he laughed. “I was helping with my mom on her delivery round this morning. Mom was telling Dee how sad she was that she wasn’t going to be able to come with me to Omaha and she asked if you were going.”

“So you told her I was?” Annabeth asked. 

“No, but I told her that I’d really like for you to be able to go,” he answered, shaking his head. “And when she asked why you wouldn’t be able to, I told her you’d probably be worried about work. ‘Cause I do know you better than you give me credit for, you know.”

She smirked, looking down. “Still,” she sighed, “even if I could get the time off, I don’t even think I could swing a plane ticket right now, much less paying for a hotel for two weeks.”

“Well, first of all, I would hope you would know better by now than to think that I’d ask you for such a selfish favor and not insist on paying for your flight,” Percy said. “And if you want to get a separate room, I’ll arrange it— but you can just stay with me. We managed to avoid killing each other in Salt Lake; I think we could make it work again.”

“This is a much longer trip,” Annabeth reminded him. “I don’t know that you really know what you’re offering.”

“Trust me,” he said sincerely. “I know exactly what I’m asking. Like I said, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to, but I just wanted to put it on the record that I would really like it if you’d come to Nebraska with me.”

Annabeth considered it, letting her mind twist the idea around and examine it from every angle even as Percy leaned forward and resumed the movie. She watched the image on the screen even though her thoughts were miles away, carefully weighing the pros and cons of going on this trip. She knew that it was probably silly to be worrying about it as much as she was, but the more she thought about it, the more there seemed to be to worry about.

Even with the obvious issue of her confusing feelings for Percy off the table, there was still the matter of the media. She knew all too well that the coverage at these trials was extensive, and cameras that were pointed at him would inevitably also end up on her. She wasn’t entirely sure that she was ready for the pressure of subjecting herself to another round of public scrutiny. Worse than that, what if the buzz around her failure somehow pulled the focus away from Percy’s accomplishments? Omaha was supposed to be about him and she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if he didn’t get the attention that he deserved because of her. 

It would also mean that they’d have to be on for the duration of the trip, and that was intimidating. When they were in public, especially when they were someplace that she knew they could be spotted, the feelings that she had trouble naming became even more conflicting than usual. Annabeth hated to admit it, but she’d begun to look forward to those moments because it meant that she could do what she wanted to do: hold his hand or rest her head on his shoulder, even summon the nerve to ask him to kiss her in the middle of an aquarium. She’d relied on those off moments to help her keep the performative part of their lives separate from their actual friendship.

But in Omaha, that would be much more difficult of an undertaking. The only time that they would be able to guarantee that they weren’t being watched would be when they were in their hotel room, and that meant that the majority of their days would be spent under the watchful eyes of the public. And while Brunner would probably be over the moon about the exposure, she wasn’t so sure that she could handle it. 

On the other hand, Percy had seemed so sincere in his request. There hadn’t been an ounce of pity in his eyes when he’d asked her to join him, and that alone was refreshing after the week that she’d just lived through. He wasn’t asking her to go to Omaha because he felt sorry for her, he was asking her because he didn’t want to be alone. 

“Okay.”

“Hm?” Percy hummed without looking away from the movie. “Okay, what?”

“Okay, I’ll go with you.” 

He turned his head toward her at last. “Really?” She nodded and he smiled before he looked forward again. “Well, alright then.”

-

Omaha, if nothing else, had given Annabeth something to look forward to.

They’d be leaving in less than a week and she still had a lot of things to get in order before she left. Dee had (unsurprisingly, given her conversation with Percy) been more than happy to approve her time off, insisting that she take the full two weeks and promising that they would get all of her shifts covered. Percy had sent her a flight confirmation that same night and since she’d told him that she was okay sharing a hotel room, all of the big arrangements were squared away. 

Still, the last thing that she’d expected to find when she and Connor returned from their Sunday morning brunch date had been Percy sitting on her couch. It only took a moment to realize that Connor didn’t look at all surprised. He brushed past her, walking straight into the living room to drop down onto the couch beside Percy.

“Why do you two insist on keeping things from me?” she sighed, hanging her car keys on the hook before she turned back toward the living room with her hands on her hips. “You know, the normal thing to do when you want to make plans with someone is to just tell them.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Connor asked.

“Yeah, Beth,” Percy grinned. “Let us have a little fun.”

“I hate fun.”

“We know,” Connor agreed. “But not everything is about you.”

Annabeth sighed, walking closer to the couch. “So are you going to tell me what you’re up to?”

“Not yet,” Percy shook his head. He looked her over quickly. “You should change shoes, though.”

She looked down at her sneakers. “What’s wrong with my shoes?”

“Just trust me. Connor?”

“On it,” he replied, already jumping to his feet and hurrying into Annabeth’s bedroom. Connor ignored her protests as he rifled around in her closet and a few seconds later, he returned with a pair of Chacos dangling from his fingers. “Wear these.”

Annabeth sighed again, snatching the sandals away from him and moving to sit on the couch to change her shoes. “I really regret introducing the two of you.”

“To be completely fair, you didn’t even really introduce us,” Connor corrected. “We met on our own; the morning of Thalia’s graduation party— remember?”

If the complete shock she’d felt at realizing Connor and Percy had arrived at that party together hadn’t been enough to sear the event into memory, Annabeth felt fairly certain that she’d never be able to fully remove the image of Percy effortlessly carrying a full keg through the apartment from her mind. Still, she just sighed dramatically in lieu of offering any real response.

“And if we’d waited around for you to introduce us, we might’ve missed out,” Percy agreed.

“And what exactly would you be missing out on?” she asked, adjusting the straps on one shoe before moving on to the next one. 

“Deep companionship,” Connor shrugged as Annabeth finished pulling on the sandals. “Duh.”

“Ah, right. My mistake.”

“You’re forgiven, Diner Girl,” Percy said. He was on his feet a moment later, holding a hand out in her direction. “Now come on— we’ve got plans.”

Annabeth accepted the assistance, sighing dramatically as he pulled her to her feet. “I always get nervous when you say that.”

Percy smiled. “Good. I like keeping you on your toes.”

A few minutes later, they had all piled into the old Corolla once again. It didn’t take her very long to figure out that they were headed back toward Percy’s apartment in the Marina District, and she was even less surprised when he steered the car into the parking garage. The surprising part came when they got to the elevator. 

“What are you doing?” Annabeth asked, confused as to why Connor had hit the button for the ground floor. 

“You’ll see,” Percy smiled. 

“Can’t you ever just tell me what’s going on?”

“My God, do you ever stop complaining?” Connor groaned. “Go with the flow, Annababe. You might even have a good time.”

She pouted, poking her lip out dramatically as the elevator chimed and the doors parted to reveal the lobby of Percy’s building. Connor followed along as Percy slipped his hand into hers and led her out to the street, squinting in the blinding afternoon light. The sidewalk was more crowded than normal, and everyone seemed to be heading in the same direction. Their trio joined the slow moving throng and they set off toward their undisclosed destination. 

Finally, she pieced together that they must be walking down to the beach. Even though she still wasn’t entirely sure why they were heading toward the beach, she kept her questions to herself, opting instead to listen as Connor and Percy talked about some show that they’d both been watching recently.

When they reached the end of the street, Annabeth finally got a glimpse of their destination. The entire stretch of Crissy Field Beach, as far as she could see, was covered with a sprawling maze of tents, food trucks, and other pop-up buildings. As they stepped out into the crosswalk, the rich, mouthwatering smell of fair food finally reached her and the sound of several layers of various genres of music began growing louder all around them. 

“What is all of this?” she asked, her face lighting up as she turned to look at Percy. 

“Summer Solstice festival,” he smiled, clearly pleased that the surprise had seemed to cheer her up. “It sounded fun— besides, we really needed to get you out of that apartment. You were starting to smell.”

Annabeth’s mouth fell open in offense. “You’re so mean to me, and for what?” 

“Sorry, Beth,” Percy grinned, dropping her hand and wrapping an arm over her shoulders instead. “You don’t actually smell.”

“Thank you,” she pouted again as they finally reached the sand and she understood why Percy had insisted that she trade her sneakers for sandals. The rows of carts and vendors seemed to span on forever, offering all sorts of crafts and touristy tchotchkes alongside virtually any food you could possibly imagine. “Where do we even start?”

“Wherever you want,” Connor shrugged. “Lead the way.”

So she did. Annabeth led them through the rows of tents, pausing to check out the display whenever something caught her eye. Even though she tried to dissuade him, Percy ended up buying her a pair of sparkly silver earrings shaped like dainty branches of coral after she’d spent a few minutes eyeing them. It always made her feel a bit odd to let him spend money on her, but accepting gifts definitely felt weird. Still, she happily removed the packaging and put them in as they walked, careful not to drop the backs in the sand. 

Connor stopped every three booths or so to order something heinous that had been battered and deep fried (even though it almost definitely should not have been) and he had decided to keep an official ranking. By booth five, the deep fried Twix seemed to be taking a clear lead. Annabeth steered clear of the more questionable food, sticking with a safer option of a corndog and a cup of fresh lemonade that was nearly the size of her head. 

They spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the fair, checking out the different vendors and even riding a few of the carnival rides that had been interspersed among the rows. Finally, when the sun had nearly set on the longest day of the year and their bellies, hearts, and camera rolls were full, they began to make their way back.

“Thanks again for the earrings,” she said as they reached the lobby and Connor made his way toward the restroom after promising to meet her at the car. “And for today, just in general. I really needed the distraction.”

Percy smiled as he pressed the call button for the elevator. “It was fun. I mean, yeah, it was mostly engineered as an excuse to get you out of your room, but I think we all had a good time.”

“It still blows my mind that you get along with Connor,” she admitted, following him inside once the doors opened. “Not just get along, but that you actually seem to like him.”

“He’s a likable guy, Beth,” Percy laughed. The doors closed and the lift began to rise. “I think pretty highly of anyone that has your back the way Connor does. You deserve a dozen friends like him.”

“I don’t think I could handle a dozen Connor Stolls,” Annabeth mumbled.

“You know what I mean.”

“I do,” she nodded, smirking. “He’s a great guy. I wouldn’t be where I am without him.”

The doors of the elevator opened again and Percy held an arm out, gesturing for her to exit first. She stepped out into the warm, breezy night air and they walked silently toward the Corolla parked on the far side of the garage. When they reached the car, she leaned against the side. 

“You nervous about this weekend?”

“Not really,” he shrugged. “I’m glad you decided to come. It’ll be nice not to have to spend a week and a half alone in freaking Nebraska.”

“Yeah, you know, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that— why the hell is this thing in Omaha?”

Percy just laughed. “I have no idea. It almost always is, though.”

The elevator chimed on the far side of the lot and Connor appeared, whistling some song that they’d heard several times that day as he began to make his way toward them.

Percy glanced back. “I think the earrings were a good call, by the way. They look good on you.”

“Thanks,” Annabeth smiled. 

“Ready?” Connor asked as he came to a stop in front of her. 

“Yeah, just saying bye.”

“Don’t I get a goodnight kiss?” Connor asked, batting his eyes in Percy’s direction. 

“Not this time,” Percy laughed. “Let me know when you make it back, alright?”

“Will do,” Annabeth nodded. She stepped forward, giving him a quick hug before she turned back toward the car and walked around to the driver’s side to begin her battle with the lock. 

“See ya, Perce,” Connor nodded, clasping Percy’s hand and pulling him in. He clapped him on the shoulder and Percy did the same before they broke apart again. “Have a good one.”

Annabeth finally got the doors unlocked, waving one last time to Percy as she and Connor got into the car and Percy turned to walk back toward the building. The drive home was mostly quiet. Annabeth rolled the windows down and turned the radio up as she drove toward Connor’s apartment and the last traces of light faded into the sky. 

When she pulled up to the curb in front of his building, Connor was staring intently at something on his phone. Annabeth put the car in park and turned the music down. “Everything okay?”

“Does Percy speak Greek?” he asked without looking up.

The question caught her entirety off guard. “Uh,” she stuttered, “maybe? I’m not sure. I would guess that he probably knows a little but we’ve never really talked about it.”

“Well,” Connor said as he held out his phone to her, “do you know what this means?”

“Hang on,” Annabeth muttered, closing out of Instagram and opening up a new web browser. She navigated to the translator and tapped the words in quickly, feeling a heat rising on her face when the result came up. “Oh.”

“What?” Connor asked, craning his neck. “Let me see.” She handed the phone back to him. “Hm,” he hummed thoughtfully. “Oh, indeed.”

“So,” she asked, biting her lip as her hands returned to rest on the steering wheel. “What do I do with that?”

Connor sighed, locking his phone screen and unbuckling his seatbelt. “Well, what do you want to do about it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Alright, then,” he shrugged. “Then don’t read too much into it. Maybe he just thought it was clever and it doesn’t mean anything. Unless, you know, you want it to mean something.”

Annabeth’s grip adjusted on the wheel as she continued to chew on her bottom lip. “I don’t know that it’s a good idea to start thinking like that when I’m about to be spending a week and a half in a hotel with him, Connor. If I’m making too big of a deal out of it—”

“So don’t make a big deal out of it.”

She sighed. “Right.”

“Hey, don’t worry too much about it,” he said, reaching for the door handle. “Will I see you again before y’all leave?”

“We’re not leaving until Saturday, so I’m sure you will,” Annabeth answered, looking over as he opened the door. “We may need a ride to the airport.”

“Well, just let me know if you do. Otherwise,” Connor said, climbing out of the car and bending over to look down inside the cab, “I’ll see you when I see you.”

“See you.”

“Text me when you get home?”

“I will. Love you.”

“You too,” he smiled, closing the car door and walking toward the building. 

Annabeth waited until he’d made it inside before she pulled her phone out of the console and opened up Instagram. The picture that Percy had posted was the first one on her feed and she stared at it again. She’d known he was taking pictures — they’d all been taking pictures all afternoon — but she hadn’t really expected him to post anything.

But the picture wasn’t the confusing part. She opened up a translator in her web browser once again as she sat in the silent car, carefully keying in the caption and double-checking to make sure that she’d entered it correctly. When the result flickered back the same, the warm flush rose to her cheeks again. 

Annabeth bounced her leg nervously as she stared at the screen for a full minute. It was a simple enough statement and she was probably overthinking it. Maybe it meant more than he was letting on, maybe it didn’t. She couldn’t let herself get too wrapped up in that today. 

Finally, Annabeth sighed, locking the phone and dropping it into the empty cup holder and merging the car back onto the street, letting the streetlights lead her home.

Chapter Text

To: [email protected]; [email protected]
From: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
Subject: Meeting Invitation - Respond ASAP

Good afternoon,

On behalf of the Dean of Admissions, your presence is requested at an important meeting tomorrow, Friday, June 26th at 9:00 AM. If you are unable to attend, please respond immediately with your availability. 

Kind regards,
Juniper Oren
Secretary to the Dean of Admissions and Provost of Enrollment

-

Annabeth had long since stopped being intimidated by Brunner’s emails (or rather, Ms. Oren’s emails), but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t still incredibly reluctant to drag herself down to campus in the middle of summer. She managed it anyway, but only because Percy had been so insistent. He picked her up at eight-thirty, giving them just enough time to grab a drink from the coffee cart on the quad before they made their way inside.

“What do you think this is about?” she asked as they exited the elevator and walked up the hall. “Kind of sudden, right?”

“I guess.” Percy shrugged, looking down at the top of his cup.

“What?” Annabeth frowned, noting Percy’s strange reaction. 

“I just think that this is maybe going to be a little awkward,” he said after another moment. “I’m kind of worried that this is about, you know… The FIVB ranking and all that.”

Annabeth looked down, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks. “Oh,” she muttered. Why hadn’t she thought of that? It was so obvious; it should’ve been her first thought upon opening the email. 

They reached the door and Percy pulled the handle. He managed to give her a reassuring smile as he gestured for her to enter. “Well, only one way to find out, right?”

By the time they’d settled into their usual spots across the desk from Dr. Brunner, Annabeth was pretty sure that the redness in her cheeks had faded— at least, she really hoped that it had. The last thing that she wanted to come from this meeting was for Brunner to have any reason to think that it wasn’t worth continuing with their agreement. She didn’t know what that would mean for the promised scholarship for the upcoming year, but she was pretty sure she didn’t want to find out. 

“I suppose I should begin this meeting by addressing the elephant in the room,” he said after they’d sat in terse silence for a few moments. Dr. Brunner folded his hands on the top of the desk. “Miss Chase, I was very sorry to hear about the results of the Olympic ranking. I know you have worked very hard and I am sure that this is a great disappointment for you.”

Annabeth kept her eyes trained on the desk, too nervous that if she raised her eyes to his face, she’d see that same look of pity that she’d spent the last two weeks running from. It was exhausting even though she knew that no one had any malicious intent. Every time she’d managed to forget about the rejection long enough to begin to feel better, someone would check in or shoot her a sympathetic message and the spiral started all over again. 

And the worst part was that it wasn’t even an unfamiliar feeling. She’d recognized the emotions the moment that they’d begun to unfurl their wings and bat around in her chest. The bitter mixture of mourning and embarrassment felt exactly like it had back then, four years ago when she’d felt it for the first time. Only now, she had no one to blame but herself. 

“Thank you,” she managed to say, though her words were quiet. She felt Percy shift uncomfortably in the chair to her right, clearing his throat as if to urge the conversation on. 

“Of course,” Dr. Brunner replied. Annabeth heard the seat of his wheelchair squeak as he also shifted his posture. “Let me first start by saying that I appreciate your willingness to come in today. I am sure that you each have plenty of things that you would rather be doing on this beautiful day, so I will not keep you long.”

“Is everything alright?” Percy asked, speaking for the first time since they’d entered the office. Annabeth looked up at last, noticing that he seemed more tense than usual though she was unsure of the reason.

“Oh, yes, of course,” he nodded, pushing his wheelchair back from the desk slightly as he began to rummage around in one of the drawers. “In fact, that is precisely why I have called you into my office this morning.” 

Percy glanced to the side, shooting Annabeth a look of confusion that she could only answer with a shrug before they both returned their attention to the man in the tweed jacket sitting on the other side of the wide desk. 

Dr. Brunner finally produced a plain manila folder, setting it on the desk and opening it. “I am sure that this summer has been a bit odd for the two of you, but I thought that it might be encouraging for you to see some of the fruits of your labors.” He slid the file toward them and both Percy and Annabeth leaned forward to get a better look. “These are all of the donors that have made generous contributions to our institution — for both academic and athletic allotments — since we first met back in March. Now, it would be hard for me to claim that all of these donations are a direct result of our, um, campaign, but I’ve also attached a second sheet there to show you the record of donations from the same period last year so that you can compare the change for yourself.”

Percy picked up the folder, resting his elbow on the left arm of the chair as he held it out so that they could both get a look at the data. As much as she wanted to be able to deny it, the difference was obvious. Annabeth looked back and forth between the numbers for a full minute before she finally looked up. 

“So, you mean this thing is actually working?” she asked, an obvious tone of disbelief marking her question. “Like, people are not only buying this but it’s actually making them want to throw money behind the school?”

“Well, forgive me for being rather blunt,” he said, seeming to rather amused with himself, “but I am not so sure that the matter of ‘buying it’ is really a question at this point,”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Percy asked, looking up from the papers, his brow furrowed. 

“You’ve been quite convincing, I must say.” Dr. Brunner shrugged. “If I didn’t know any better, I might even believe you myself. You play your parts well— I doubt that anyone has any misgivings about your situation, though as a result I do expect that you will continue to be burdened by this for longer than expected.”

Annabeth blinked, staring back blankly. “Sorry?”

“In light of the overwhelmingly positive response to your relationship and the support and endearment that you have been shown,” he explained, “I sense that the news of your breakup will be a bit more climactic than we initially predicted. But rest assured that we will be behind you every step of the way. I’ve already spoken to the marketing team that has been assisting with the project and our PR department will continue to be available to you until things die down, but I do expect that this fall will be a bit more eventful than anticipated.”

Percy looked down again, jaw tight. He held the folder out to her but when she shook her head, he closed it and dropped it back onto the desk. “So that’s it?” Annabeth looked over, surprised by his cool tone. “You got what you needed from us, so now you want to warn us that we’re probably gonna get pitted against each other by this whole media circus you’ve orchestrated— is that it?”

“Percy,” Annabeth murmured, “why are you—”

“This is so stupid,” he shook his head. Percy crossed his arms and sank in his chair, shifting his eyes toward the window. “I can’t believe we agreed to this.”

“Mr. Jackson, do you have something that you’d like to say?”

Percy chewed at his cheek and Annabeth silently begged him not to explode. She wasn’t sure why he was reacting the way that he was, but pissing Brunner off now was surely not the solution to whatever he was feeling. His leg bounced nervously, as it always did when he was getting agitated, and she knew it was only a matter of time before he slipped up and said something he didn’t mean. If she could just get him out of here—

“No,” he said, his voice tight. “I don’t have anything to say.” To you. He hadn’t said it but the words seemed to linger in the air anyway, and Annabeth wasn’t sure if that was because they were so deeply obvious or because she simply knew Percy well enough to finish the thought for herself. “Can we go now?”

Dr. Brunner cleared his throat as he settled back against his chair, making a visible effort to appear more relaxed than he obviously was. Annabeth wondered again just how well the two knew each other and how often they’d met before this whole arrangement had begun. “I need to know what your plan is for going forward. Particularly you, Miss Chase.”

Annabeth managed to pull her eyes away from Percy. “Plan?”

“What do you intend to do now that your situation has changed?” he asked, clarifying his meaning. “At the risk of sounding insensitive, I feel that I must remind you it is not the time to grow complacent in your efforts.”

Percy scoffed and Annabeth hurried to cover the sound with her reply. “We weren’t planning on slacking off, Dr. Brunner,” she answered. “We agreed to do this until the games were over and that’s still the plan.”

“So what is your next move, then?” he asked, combing a hand over his short beard. “I am very understanding of your current dilemma, but I cannot help but notice that the two of you have kept a rather low profile in recent weeks. I would like to get an idea of how you plan on adjusting that image so that we do not lose the momentum we have gained and squander all of your efforts.”

Hearing the reality of their situation laid out in such harsh, technical terms felt like pouring alcohol into a wound. Brunner didn’t mean anything by it, but each word he spoke seemed to her to have been engineered with the sole purpose of reminding her just how paper thin all of this was. It made her feel small and foolish in an instant, naive for letting herself get so wrapped up in their agreement that she’d let herself grow closer to Percy than was probably acceptable.

Even the way that Percy had reacted to the conversation hurt. Part of her wondered if maybe whatever prior relationship he had with Brunner was the source of the annoyance, but the timing was still too strange. He’d closed off and become irritated at the notion that they’d been selling the lie too well, almost like he hadn’t expected for that to be the response at all. 

And for a moment, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed by that. Percy having such a negative reaction to finding out that people seemed to really like the idea that they were together stung. It was sobering, and she didn’t much care for the way that the reminder made her feel.

“Um,” she muttered, sliding her hands beneath her thighs to keep herself from nervously pulling at her fingers, “well, since I’m not training anymore, I was thinking about going to Omaha.”

“You’re coming to Omaha,” Percy said, a surprisingly assertive edge to his voice she hadn’t heard in a while. “We already talked about this, Beth.”

“I know, I— that’s not what I meant,” she shook her head. Something about Percy’s sudden mood swing and the already invasive questioning from Brunner had Annabeth so flustered that she couldn’t think of anything else to say. She met Percy’s stare, hoping that her eyes adequately conveyed the confusion she felt. 

Apparently, the message got through. A moment later, Percy sighed, wiping his palms down his jeans as he sat up straighter. “Sorry.”

“Well, I am certainly glad to hear that you have decided to take the trip together,” Dr. Brunner said uneasily, his expression plainly revealing that he was equally confused by the sudden shift in the temperature of the conversation. “I think it will be a fun experience for the two of you. And, Miss Chase, I will look into seeing if it is possible for you to be reimbursed for your travel expenses.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Percy said immediately. “It’s been taken care of.”

“I appreciate your willingness to handle the arrangements, Mr. Jackson, but I did tell you that the school would be—”

“It doesn’t matter, Brunner,” he interrupted. “I asked Annabeth to come with me as my friend, not because you think it’s a good idea for her to be there. I invited her, I’m taking care of it.”

There was a weighted moment of silence as Percy’s words hung in the air and somehow, even with all the weirdness of the conversation and the awkward tension in the room, the only thing that Annabeth could think about was the way her heart had sunk at his use of the word friend. It wasn’t untrue— they were friends, and she was probably foolish for ever hoping for anything more. 

Still.

The fluorescents continued to buzz overhead and it was so silent in the office that even the gentle strains of the woodwind music Juniper played on a loop in the reception area were faintly audible. Annabeth stared down at her lap, waiting for someone to break the standoff and praying that it wouldn’t have to be her.

“I believe that just about wraps us up, then,” Dr. Brunner finally said, his words toneless as he glared at Percy. Annabeth looked up, observing the cold exchange. “Again, I thank you for coming in today. Keep up the good work.”

The words had barely left Brunner’s mouth before Percy was on his feet and moving toward the door. Annabeth offered the Dean a half-apologetic smile as she rose to follow.

“Miss Chase?”

She turned back toward the desk as Percy threw open the door to the reception and hurried out into the hallway. “Yeah?”

Brunner waited another moment, almost as if he were stalling for time and hoping that Percy would be far away when he finally opened his mouth again. Once she heard his question, she knew exactly why that was. “Is he like this with you often?”

Annabeth blinked. “Percy’s never been angry with me,” she deadpanned, “so, no.”

“And have you ever felt… unsafe?”

“No,” she repeated, her voice cold. “I have never felt unsafe with Percy.”

“Well,” Dr. Brunner nodded, running his hand over his beard again, “I suppose that is a relief.” 

Several emotions fought to take precedence— there was offense with the insinuation that Percy would make her uncomfortable, followed quickly by annoyance at the realization that Brunner clearly knew about Percy’s past and had walked her into this companionship anyway. So maybe Percy did have his anger under control these days— but what if he hadn’t? And Brunner had not so much as warned her before convincing her to go along with this scheme.

Something not entirely unlike rage sprouted in her chest. If it weren’t for Percy being a genuinely good person who had made it a goal in his life to move forward from his mistakes and do whatever it took to avoid repeating them, then she might have found herself in a very different situation. And now, she realized, Brunner had known that all along and had clearly not cared. For the first time, she saw just how selfish the man was.

Her eyes narrowed in disgust and she couldn’t hold her words back any longer. “How dare you.”

Dr. Brunner balked at her tone. “Excuse me?” 

“You know what I’m talking about,” Annabeth wagered, her hands tightening into fists at her sides before relaxing again, “and I know that you know because if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be asking me this. How dare you sit there and act like you’re concerned about my safety, as if you didn’t devise this entire situation for your own benefit.”

“Miss Chase—”

“I trust Percy,” she continued, talking over his attempt at an interruption. “I would trust him with my life. So, don’t you dare sit there and act like you’re surprised to hear that he’s been good to me just because he had a negative reaction to your puppeteering.”

Brunner studied her face for a long moment before he swallowed. “I am sorry to have offended you.”

Annabeth scoffed, turning back toward the door as she shook her head. “I’m not the one that you should be apologizing to.” She was fed up with the conversation and wanted nothing more than she wanted to be as far from this office as possible.

“Annabeth?” he called again and for some unknown reason, her feet came to a stop, though she did not turn to face him. “Keep an eye on him.”

Biting her tongue to keep her thoughts to herself, she continued out of the office and back toward the hall. Percy was nowhere in sight but she knew that he couldn’t have made it very far since she’d only been held back for a minute or so. She took the elevator down to the ground floor and hurried out of the heavy double doors, spotting him as soon as she started down the steps. 

Percy was leaning against a tall tree, his hands in his pockets and an unreadable expression on his face, when she approached. At first, neither of them said anything. Finally, after what felt like several minutes of simply staring at each other wordlessly, Percy found his voice. 

He straightened, pushing off of the tree. “I’m starving,” Percy said, casual as anything. “Do you maybe wanna grab lunch or something?”

“After that scene you just caused in there?” Annabeth asked, crossing her arms. Her heart was still lodged firmly in her throat and deflecting her attention onto him was far preferable to facing whatever weird, nameless emotions were stirring in her chest. “What the hell was all that about?”

“I don’t know— I just couldn’t be in that room anymore,” he frowned, and even to her untrained ear, it sounded like a lie. Percy glanced down, digging the toe of his sneaker into the dirt before he looked up again. “What did he want to talk to you about?”

Annabeth didn’t even pause to think before blurting out, “He asked me if you’ve ever made me feel unsafe.” 

Percy’s entire body tensed and she realized with a pang of guilt that he looked genuinely concerned to hear her answer. The look in his eyes had managed to dissolve every bit of annoyance that she’d felt with him when he’d stormed out.

“I told him no,” she said softly, letting her arms fall. “I didn’t mean for that to sound like—”

“It would be fair if you had,” he shrugged, looking down again. “I’d deserve it.”

“Yeah, well,” Annabeth said, taking a step to the side and moving her head so that her face was in his line of sight, “maybe. But it’s irrelevant because it’s never been a problem. Alright?”

He lifted his head, studying her intently. “Annabeth,” he said after a moment, “I would never hurt you.”

Annabeth’s lips pulled into a soft and understanding smile. “I know.” Another brief silence followed and she decided that she might as well seize the opportunity. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about what happened back there?”

“Honestly, Beth, I think I just let him get under my skin. It’s fine,” Percy assured her. “I’m sorry for overreacting.” He paused before he reached out and pushed her shoulder lightly. “Though, I did mean what I said.”

“About what?” she laughed, glad that the heavy cloud that had settled over the morning had begun to pass. Nodding her head in the direction of the parking garage, she began to make her way back up the sidewalk. 

Percy followed, setting pace right alongside her. “That I didn’t ask you to come to Omaha as a part of this stupid arrangement.” Annabeth glanced over but Percy’s eyes were trained straight ahead. “I want you to come because I, for one, have actually enjoyed getting to hang out with you the past few months and I’d much rather have a friend with me than face this thing alone. I just… wanted you to know that.”

She smiled to herself, burying down her disappointment at the word friend again and choosing instead to focus on the fact that he valued her company so much that he’d asked her to come along on one of the most important trips of his life. Percy was one of the best friends that she’d ever had, and she hoped that he felt the same— and if that was all that it could ever be for them, she was glad for that much at least. 

“I’m glad to hear it, water boy.”

“So,” he said, leaning over and nudging her with his shoulder. The tension seemed to dissipate as quickly as it had appeared. “Can I buy you lunch?”

“After that shit show?” Annabeth grinned. “You’d better.”

Percy’s bright smile faded as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Sorry, I have to take this— it’s my mom.”

“Sure,” she nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Hey, mom,” he said as soon as the phone was to his ear. After a moment, his face sort of fell. “Well, I would, but I have Annabeth with me.”

She looked over at the sound of her name, her feet coming to a stop as they reached the end of the sidewalk. 

“Uh,” Percy hesitated, shooting her a look, “let me ask.” He lowered the phone from his ear. “My mom wants to meet up with us for lunch. Are you okay with that? I can get us out of it if that’s too weird.”

“No way,” Annabeth shook her head, pressing the button on the crosswalk sign. “That sounds great. I need someone to help me pick on you anyway.”

He chuckled as he rolled his eyes and brought the phone back to his ear. “Alright, mom, we’re in. Meet you there in, like, half an hour?” Percy nodded along to whatever Sally was saying on the other end of the line before he laughed. “We will. Love you, too.”

-

“I’m so glad that I caught Percy while you were together,” Sally said, lifting the edge of the top piece of bread and pulling the slice of tomato off of her sandwich. “I’ve been begging him to bring you by for dinner for weeks.”

“She’s been busy, mom,” Percy muttered. “We’re both busy.”

“I know,” she sighed, “but that doesn’t mean that you don’t make time for your mother.”

Annabeth laughed quietly as she opened up the snack-sized bag of chips. “Sorry, Ms. Jackson.”

“Sally, please,” Sally insisted, holding a hand over her mouth as she talked around the bite of club sandwich she’d just taken. As she finished chewing, she waved her hand dismissively, the way Percy always did when he wanted to change the subject. “Ms. Jackson makes me sound so old.”

“You are old, ma.”

“I am not,” she protested, looking genuinely offended. “I’m not even forty yet.”

“You have a kid that’s about to be finished with college,” Percy grinned, looking back down to his plate and cutting off a piece of his flatbread. “You’re old.”

“I don’t think you’re old, Sally,” Annabeth added, making sure to use the woman’s first name this time even though it felt a bit odd. Frederick Chase probably would have died of shock if Percy had addressed him by his first name.

“Thank you, Annabeth,” Sally smiled brightly as she picked a bit of the crust off of her sandwich and flicked it across the table at Percy. “I’m glad that I convinced Percy to bring you— otherwise I’d have to sit here and take his bullying.”

“I think that’s called elder abuse, actually.”

“Perseus Jackson,” Sally warned, her voice stern even as her smile lit up her bright eyes. “You are not too old for me to wash your mouth out with soap.”

Annabeth watched in awe through the entire duration of their lunch. It was bizarre to see Percy with his mom, to watch how he seemed to relax in a way that she couldn’t wholly explain. It was so apparent even on the surface, that his mother was his favorite person in the world. He looked at her like he’d try to reverse the tides if it was what she wanted and Annabeth knew without ever having to be told that the feeling was mutual.

It made sense though, and she knew that. Sally and Percy had, in many ways, grown up together. As a young, single mother, Annabeth could only imagine the loneliness of those early days when it was just the two of them. And then, after Gabe came into the picture, she knew that Percy had clung to his mother in an entirely new way and become intensely protective of her and, as far as she could tell, he’d never really grown out of that. 

As happy as she was to see Percy so genuinely at ease and content, it still picked at an old scar— one that she didn’t really like to look at. 

Annabeth had three parents and none of them seemed to be especially fond of her. She hadn’t heard from her birth mother in nearly twenty years and the two parents there were technically present were anything but nurturing and certainly not warm. It felt completely surreal to even try and imagine herself joking with her father or Helen the way that Percy so easily teased his mom. 

She observed their taunts and listened happily to their playful bickering all through lunch. The exchange was punctuated regularly by some term of endearment or other and completely wrapped in bouts of laughter and bright, glowing smiles and as much as she loved being a part of it, every single second ached. 

“Annabeth,” Sally said after a while, pulling Annabeth’s attention away from the straw wrapper that she was absentmindedly rolling between her fingers. “I’m actually very glad you’re here because I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

Percy looked up, his brow furrowing in confusion as he chewed on the last bite of his flatbread. 

“What’s that?” Annabeth asked, trying to sound less nervous than the question made her feel.

“Well,” she sighed, touching a napkin to the corners of her mouth before wadding it up and tossing it onto her mostly empty plate, “I’ve been thinking of making some changes at the shop. Sometime next year, probably— definitely before the summer wedding season since we’ll need to shut down for a while, I’m sure. And when I close, my crew and I usually just work out of our kitchen at home— but you know how it is: you get seven wedding cake orders in a week and it’s just absolute chaos. Like, last year—”

“Mom,” Percy interjected gently in a clear attempt to halt the tirade and steer the conversation back on track, “what’s your question?”

Sally rolled her eyes with a comedic level of dramatization, as if she could not believe that her son would deign to interrupt her. After a short pause, she met Annabeth’s eyes with a warm smile. “I want to hire you to lead the renovation project,” she said sweetly. “I just know that you’ll do an amazing job and I think it would be so fun for us to work together, don’t you?”

Percy tensed a bit and Annabeth immediately understood why. For one brief, fleeting moment, the notion was almost too good to be true. Getting to take on a project like that would look great on grad school applications and would probably even be able to be counted toward her internship requirement if she played her cards right, but the timing couldn’t be worse. 

She couldn’t guarantee that Sally would even be able to look at her after she and Percy ‘broke up’, and Annabeth could hardly fault her for that. The sudden and unexpected reminder of just how much she was going to lose when this was all over seemed to be the cherry on top of a shit-sundae but she managed a small smile anyway. “Yeah,” she nodded slowly, “maybe.”

“Of course, if you’re not up for it, that’s not a problem,” Sally added quickly, and Annabeth immediately felt guilty because she could tell that her response had obviously made Sally feel as if she’d overstepped. “Just… you know, give it some thought. We don’t have to decide anything anytime soon.”

“Sure,” Annabeth nodded. “Thanks, Sally. I’ll, um— I’ll definitely think about it.” 

She wasn’t sure that she’d be able to think about anything else for a while, actually.

-

The motorcycle engine cut and Annabeth climbed over the seat, pulling her helmet off and holding it by the chinstrap as she pulled the scrunchie loose and freed her hair from its messy bun. 

“Thanks for the ride today,” she said, watching as Percy set the kickstand and stepped off of the bike. When he’d lifted the seat, she held out her helmet so that he could stow it away. “And for letting me come to lunch with you and your mom.”

Percy lifted his helmet as well, running a hand through his hair as he settled back down onto the seat of the bike. “She likes you a lot.”

“I sort of got that impression, too.”

“And — to hear Brunner tell it, anyway — August is gonna be a bitch.”

Annabeth didn’t have the slightest clue how she was meant to respond to that. Instead, she looked down at the pavement, crossing her arms over her torso as she rocked nervously on her heels. “Yeah.”

“Well, tell everyone I said hi, I guess,” he shrugged after a moment. “And Connor’s taking us to the airport in the morning, right?”

“Reyna, actually,” Annabeth corrected, thankful for the change in conversation. “It didn’t make sense for Connor to have to take Chris’s car and drive twenty minutes out of the way when Reyna is free, you know? And yeah— Connor’s ticked about it, but he’ll get over it.”

“Aw, you hurt his feelings, Beth,” Percy chuckled. “We’ll have to buy him a nice souvenir in Omaha to make up for it.”

“I was already planning on getting the two of you a set of those matching ‘I’m with Stupid’ t-shirts,” she smiled, looking up from the ground at last. “Sorry to ruin the surprise.” 

“It’s the least you can do, really.”

“I know— I’m a terrible fake girlfriend.”

“The worst.” 

For a moment, the awkward silence was filled only by the sound of a distant lawnmower and faint, indistinguishable music, but finally, Annabeth took a step backward. “Well, I should probably go finish packing.”

“Sure,” he nodded. 

With the humble offering of a half-hearted wave and a soft, tight-lipped smile, she turned toward the sidewalk and began to make her way toward the apartment building. She’d only made it about ten yards when his voice reached her ears again.

“Hey, Beth?”

Annabeth paused, turning back to face him. “Yeah?”

Percy, picked at a scuff on the top of the helmet in his lap. “I know that sometimes it probably seems like I’m really fed up with this whole Brunner thing, and I mean, I guess I am,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “But I don’t want you to think that that has anything to do with you.”

Annabeth stared back, holding her breath.

“I just mean, like, we’ve gotten pretty close, you know? And that never would’ve ever happened if it weren’t for the whole fake dating thing.” He waved his hand in vague dismissal. “But if anything good has come of this, it’s been getting to know you. You’re a really amazing person, Annabeth, and I’m really glad that I can say you’re my friend.”

Annabeth was absolutely, one-thousand-and-one-percent positive that if she heard the word friend again, she was going to jump off of her balcony. 

“Me too, Percy,” she smiled, though it took just about every ounce of determination that she could summon in order to maintain an even tone. “Even if it means putting up with all of Dr. Brunner’s horseshit.”

He exhaled in an amused laugh, smiling as he looked up again. “Anyway,” Percy shrugged. “I just wanted you to know.”

“I appreciate it.”

Something about the awkward distance and the stilted replies reminded her of her first ever date and how neither she nor Connor had had any idea how to end the conversation. Nothing that came to mind felt right and everything that she wanted to do felt wrong. (Eventually, she’d kissed him and then promptly slammed the door in his face, but she didn’t think that was going to work with Percy.)

“Alright, Diner Girl,” he said, lifting the helmet and tugging it down over his head. “Go pack. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you,” she waved, watching as he started the bike and turned out of the lot. 

-

3:21 PM - ANNABETH:
I’m completely fucked.

3:23 PM - CONNOR:
Yeah

3:23 PM - CONNOR:
I know this.

3:23 PM - CONNOR:
I’ve BEEN telling u this

3:24 PM - CONNOR:
But what happened now

3:24 PM - ANNABETH:
I’ll be over in twenty.

Chapter Text

When the plane touched down at Eppley Airfield, every nervous thought Annabeth had somehow managed to keep silent throughout their hectic morning seemed to scream even louder than the jet engines on the other side of the aircraft windows. Percy jolted awake as the wheels made contact with the tarmac and the plane rapidly began decreasing speed. He looked a bit disoriented at first, but relaxed when he looked over at her.

“Feeling okay?” he asked, frowning slightly. “You look a little sick.”

“Uh, yeah,” Annabeth insisted, brushing off his concern with a slow shake of her head. “Just a little motion sickness. I’m fine.”

“You’ll feel better after we eat some real food,” Percy said, stretching his neck. Annabeth was a little surprised that he’d taken the risk of falling asleep during the flight at all, knowing how easy it could be to find yourself with aches and pains associated to the weird angles that airplane seats confined one to— but the roomier seats in their first class section were a bit more conducive to napping. He glanced at the smartwatch on his wrist. “We can grab something on the way to the hotel, or we can check-in and go out after. Whatever you wanna do.”

His coach would be flying in the next day because of some family thing that had come up, so she imagined that Percy would probably want to enjoy his last night of relative-freedom before he had to truly snap into competition form.

“This is your trip,” she shrugged, “so it should be your choice, right?”

“Well, in that case, I think we should check-in first,” he answered. “I wouldn’t mind a quick shower. Airplanes always make me feel gross.” 

Annabeth chuckled to herself as the pilot came over the intercom to announce their arrival information and the plane came to an abrupt stop at their gate. When the rows of passengers in front of their seats had cleared out, she and Percy made their way up the aisle, backpacks slung haphazardly over their shoulders as they trailed along in the line of people deboarding the plane. 

The airport was a lot busier than Annabeth had expected, but there was a nonzero chance that her biased idea of what Omaha was going to be like had played a role in that assumption. More than once in the week leading up to this journey, she’d had vivid dreams of an Olympic-sized swimming pool plopped down in the middle of a corn field surrounded by stacks of hay bales meant to serve as crudely fashioned bleachers. And while she logically knew it wasn’t going to be like that, her expectations had, admittedly, been slightly more… rustic. 

When they reached baggage claim, the crowd seemed to grow even more dense. There was a dull buzz of conversation, the steady droll that always accompanied large groups of people, but something about it felt a bit off. It was difficult to explain, so she kept her thoughts to herself, her brow knitting curiously as she followed Percy toward the baggage carousel. Just as the alarm rang out to signal that the belt was about to begin moving, Annabeth realized what was different about this particular crowd. 

There were cameras everywhere. Some of them were obvious — small groupings of people in matching polos with a station number embroidered on the breast pocket carrying a collection of microphones and other tech equipment — but there were others, too. Annabeth spotted a man with a long lens standing at the far end of the corridor, snapping photos from a distance and if she hadn’t known any better, she’d think that he was taking pictures of them.

Percy spotted one of their bags, stepping politely through the crowd to retrieve it from the belt while Annabeth continued to glance around at the television crews and reporters that lined the walls of the arrivals reception area. When he returned to her side, setting the bag down at her feet, he seemed to notice her nervous expression for the first time. “What’s wrong?” he asked, tilting his head. “You still feeling sick?”

There was a bit of commotion a few yards behind her suddenly and they both turned toward the sound. A tall man she didn’t recognize held up a hand in greeting as he walked toward the cameras and the crowd closed in around him as five different microphones were shoved into his face. It all clicked suddenly: the reality of what they were doing here and the weight of importance that that reality carried felt heavy.

She remembered what Percy had told her that day at the Aegis when he’d admitted to being nervous about the trials. ‘It pretty much all comes down to Omaha,’ he’d said, and his voice was still as clear as a bell in her memory. The best swimmers in the country were all making their way to Nebraska, just the same as they were, and she could hardly fathom the pressure that Percy was under.

The man that had garnered the wave of enthusiasm finally began to step away from the cameras, his smile falling the moment that he’d turned his back to them. The reporters didn’t seem bothered by the brush-off at all, looking back toward the escalators as they scanned the crowds for whichever swimmer would be their next victim.

“I can’t believe they haven’t spotted you yet,” she muttered, pulling her eyes away from the media throng and looking back to Percy who appeared perfectly at ease. 

“I think they’re probably just being nice,” he said, glancing over the top of her head and watching the crowd again. “Once we try to leave, you can bet we’ll be hounded. You can go out first if you want to try and get around them— I wouldn’t blame you.”

The offer was enticing but Annabeth knew she couldn’t accept it. “We knew what this trip was going to mean, right?” she shrugged, trying to sound indifferent even though she knew that she was failing. “Don’t worry about me; I’m with you.”

Percy gave her a small smile, her favorite kind. It was the soft sort of smirk that always pulled that one dimple out of hiding and brought a different kind of shimmer to his eyes. There was something so deeply genuine in those smiles that she always found herself wanting to freeze them in time and keep them just for herself. It reminded her of the way that Connor had always looked at her, an intimate familiarity and fondness that was almost impossible to put into words but could be shared with such a simple gesture. 

“There’s mine,” Annabeth said, unwilling to shatter the softness of the moment that they seemed to be sharing but pointing toward the conveyor belt anyway as her navy blue suitcase tumbled to a stop at the bottom of the ramp and began its first trip around the carousel. Percy nodded and turned away, making his way through the crowd again and returning a minute later with the bag in tow. “Thanks.”

“It’s the least I can do,” he smirked, “since I’m about to feed you to the piranhas.” Annabeth reached out to take the suitcase handle as he lifted the massive duffle bag from the floor and pulled the strap over his shoulder. “Ready?”

“Nope,” Annabeth said, forcing a bright smile onto her lips, “but let’s get this over with.”

“Look at you with your pretty fake smiles,” Percy laughed, holding a hand out for her and she took it automatically as they began to make their way toward the doors. “You’re gonna have this media thing whipped by the end of the trip.”

“I don’t know about all that,” she muttered just as one of the reporters made eye contact with her. 

“Percy! Over here!” the woman called out, and three other heads turned in their direction. 

Even though she’d tried to prepare herself for it, the sudden attention was startling and she found herself feeling a bit shaky with all of the cameras that were now being shoved into their faces. A dozen voices shouted questions in their direction and Annabeth could hardly separate them but Percy didn’t seem to be having any trouble. 

As if he could sense her anxiety, Percy gave her hand a squeeze, his thumb grazing over the back of her knuckles as he continued to answer the reporters’ questions easily. The small gesture grounded her and she let out a deep breath, smiling politely as she listened to his responses and comments about the coming week of races and trials. His replies were purposeful and methodical, almost as if they’d been practiced. There wasn’t an ounce of nervousness in his voice and his confidence was winning over every single person in the audience. 

By the time they were able to make their escape, Annabeth was entirely in awe of him. He led her toward the curb where a line of cabs and other cars were waiting, and finally she noticed the driver a few yards ahead holding an iPad that was turned toward the doors with the words ‘JACKSON CHASE’ in bold, block letters across the entire screen. She glanced at Percy out of the corner of her eye but he seemed entirely unfazed as they continued to walk toward the car, their hands still clasped between them. 

“This is for us?” she asked, trying to keep her voice low. “Seriously?”

Percy smirked, his eyes still on the car. He held a hand out to greet the driver as they reached the car and before she even realized what was happening, her bags had been stripped away from her and dutifully stored in the trunk and she found herself sitting in the quiet, spacious backseat. A few seconds later, the door on the other side of the car opened and Percy slid into the seat. Before he’d even closed his door, a privacy divider between the front and back seats of the car began to rise, completely sealing them off from the driver. All that Annabeth could manage to do was stare, gaping at Percy with wide eyes as she waited for some form of explanation. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” he laughed, his smile broad and infectious as he let his head lull against the headrest and the car pulled away from the curb. “I don’t like taxis.”

“You’re from New York. That’s, like, the taxi capital of the States.”

“Exactly.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

Percy lifted his head, eyeing her suspiciously. “You’re argumentative today.”

“I’m confused.”

“And grumpy,” he noted. “I don’t think you’ve been this short with me since our first date, Beth.”

Annabeth groaned, reaching over the middle seat to shove his arm gently. “Stop changing the subject.”

“What subject?” Percy laughed again as he caught her wrist in his hand before she could go for another hit. “Can’t you just enjoy the nice, quiet ride? I’m sorry you hate the car so much but—”

“I don’t hate the car!”

“— our hotel isn’t far, so you’ll only have to endure it for a few minutes.”

Resigning herself to the fact that she would not be getting any sort of straight answers out of him, Annabeth sighed, crossing her arms and huffing dramatically as she slouched down in her seat and stared up at the ceiling liner of the car. The rest of the ride was quiet and she was grateful for that at least.

A new question rose in her chest as the car slowed and began to make a turn. In all of the craziness of getting ready for the trip, she hadn’t asked many questions at all. She hadn’t known about the car, and she was now realizing that she didn’t have the slightest idea where they would be staying, either. If this, she thought as she glanced around the car again, was any indicator of things— well, she was pretty sure that it would make the hotel they’d stayed in for the Salt Lake City tournament look like a pup tent.

There was something sort of exciting behind that thought, even if it did make her a little uncomfortable, and she realized for the first time just how glad she was to be there. This trip was an impossibly big deal for Percy (even if he was doing an impressively good job of acting completely indifferent about it) and he’d asked her to come along. Something in her heart seemed to swell with joy at the thought of how much that invitation had meant to her, and she was just about to tell him so when the car came to a stop. 

Her door opened a moment later and the driver assisted her as she exited the car. As soon as she was on her feet and the door had been closed, he hurried to the back of the car and began unloading their bags. Another man hurried to assist the driver, carrying the bags to a cart that was waiting beside tall, automatic doors that led into the lobby of the hotel. She was speechless as she watched the handoff. When the trunk was closed again, Percy exchanged a few niceties with the driver who handed him what appeared to be a business card before he returned to the driver’s seat and pulled away. 

“Still grumpy?” he asked teasingly as he pulled out his wallet and slid the card into an empty slot before replacing it in his back pocket. Annabeth still hadn’t found her voice but she followed him anyway, a few steps behind as they crossed the porte-cochère. The man with their bags nodded as they passed, gesturing toward the doors to indicate that they should enter first and he fell into step behind them.

Saying that the lobby was impressive would’ve been an understatement of monumental proportions. The floor was a soft white marble that stood out in stark contrast to her dingy Keds as they walked to the front counter, a massive desk with white wainscoting that stretched a full fifteen feet along the far left wall of the entry. In the very center of the room, a fountain that was at least five or six feet taller than her bubbled pleasantly as the water fell and culminated in a small pond where brightly colored koi weaved through the plants and stones. Beyond the fountain, she could see a large sitting area complete with a fireplace and a grand piano. 

“Miss?” 

Annabeth managed to lift her jaw from the floor as she turned toward the voice. The bellhop was looking at her expectantly and she wasn’t entirely sure what he was hoping to hear. 

“Will you be requiring a dinner reservation this evening?” he asked, gesturing toward the opposite side of the lobby, directly across from the desk, where she finally noticed an entrance to a dining room. “I can arrange that for you while you are getting checked-in.”

“Oh, um,” she stuttered, pulling her eyes away from the intricate stained glass above the doorway. “I think that we already have plans for the evening.”

“Is that so?” Percy asked, seeming to appear out of thin air. He handed a slip of paper to the bellhop who offered a polite smile and nod as he began to push the luggage cart across the lobby. “Does that mean you decided to play nice and join me for dinner, then?”

“Dinner, yes,” she nodded as they followed the bellhop, “but if you think I’m going to play nice, you’ll be sorely disappointed.”

“You’ve never made anything easy before— I wouldn't expect you to start now.”

“So long as you know.”

The elevator ride was a bit awkward but it was quick. The doors opened up to a long hallway with thick carpets and the most beautiful crown molding that Annabeth had ever seen outside of a textbook. They made their way a short distance down the corridor before the bellhop paused at a door and Percy held out a keycard. 

For one brief, panicked moment, Annabeth had a mortifying thought. Percy had booked this trip months ago, back when they’d been under the impression that he would be traveling alone, and she wasn’t entirely sure that he would’ve thought to make any changes to that reservation when those plans changed. As the door clicked open and the bellhop began to push the cart inside, she held her breath and prayed to whatever gods were out there.

Given the events of the afternoon up until then, she probably should have been expecting it, but the sight of a full living area gave her pause. A suite, she realized, not even bothering to look at Percy— she’d seen his self-satisfied smirk enough for one day. Through the open doorway on the opposite side of the sitting room, she could clearly see two beds in the adjoining space and she finally exhaled. The bellhop set to pulling the bags off of the cart without waiting for any instruction and Annabeth wandered over to the tall windows that lined the west-facing walls of the room.

As she looked out over downtown Omaha, she realized just how wrong she’d been in her assumption of how large the city would be. It wasn’t exactly the cultural hub of her beloved San Francisco, but the city beyond the windows was much more impressive than she’d expected. The sinking sun was just beginning to pinken the backdrop of clouds behind the skyline, and she decided that there was something kind of charming about the old brick buildings that surrounded them.

Her eyes remained trained on the buildings outside as she listened to the parting words Percy exchanged with the bellhop and the sound of the cart being wheeled back out into the hall. The door closed a moment later and the sound of footsteps began to grow closer. 

“Everything up to your standards?” Percy asked, stepping up beside her. He crossed his arms over his chest as he too took in the view. “Or are you still mad at me?”

Strangely, Annabeth realized that the part of her that had been anxious about the possibility of there only being one bed in the room hadn’t calmed at all with the realization. It was a bit difficult to admit it, but she recognized immediately that she wasn’t entirely sure if she was relieved or disappointed. It felt foolish to even entertain the thought that she could be disappointed by the confirmation that there were in fact two beds in the room— as she and Connor had just discussed the night before, it was absolutely not the time to let her feelings get away from her. 

This trip, as she’d already reminded herself a dozen times, was incredibly important for Percy, and she’d never forgive herself if something that she did or said caused him to struggle. He needed to have a clear head before the trials began, and she wouldn’t be the reason that he didn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to lay such heavy information on him now, not when he was about to head into the most important competition of the year, and especially not when she couldn’t be certain of the reaction.

When she’d talked to him last, Connor had been brutal. His words weren’t soft or sparing, and he’d made sure that she understood exactly how foolish he thought she was being. And even though it had felt a bit harsh in the moment, she fully understood why he’d been so hard on her. As patient and good-natured as Connor was (and had always been), he was human, and the human capacity for stupidity is remarkably low.

After months of playing third-wheel to their act, both in public and in private, Connor had grown tired. “You can’t be this oblivious,” he’d said the night before. “He’s so obviously into you.”

“You don’t know that for sure, Connor,” Annabeth answered. “We’re faking all of this— how am I supposed to know what’s real and what isn’t?”

“You think he’d be doing all of this if he didn’t have feelings for you?”

“I don’t know— maybe!” she’d groaned, exasperated. “He’s a nice guy. You’ve seen how he takes care of people. Maybe he just feels bad about all of the Luke stuff and the rankings and he’s trying to cheer me up. Percy is a good guy— is it really so hard to believe that he might just be doing all of this because he’s nice?”

Connor had just stared, his frown deepening as he did. Finally, he’d shaken his head in defeat. “You’re too fucking smart to be this stupid.”

And it had stung. But it hadn’t been false— at least, she didn’t think so, anyway. There was still a very big part of her that feared she was right and that everything that had transpired in the months since they’d signed those papers in Brunner’s office had all been a part of their so-called Big Lie, but the part of her that felt like there was something more than obligation behind Percy’s eyes was louder than ever. 

Still, now wasn’t the time, and she knew that. 

If there was even one-percent of a chance that he might not return her feelings, she wouldn’t be able to stand it. The humiliation alone would be too much to handle, to say nothing about the fact that they still had two months left before they’d be allowed to move on to that whole ‘quiet breakup’ thing that Brunner had been so excited about. Pining wasn’t fun, but it was certainly preferable to losing Percy altogether. 

So, instead, Annabeth swallowed back all of the anxiety that was building in her throat and thought about the promise that she’d made to herself and to Connor the night before: she would tell him the truth when he got home from Athens. Whatever happened after that, she could handle it. Until then, it was a waiting game. 

“I’m not mad at you.”

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it.”

“Percy—”

“Look, I’m sorry for not giving you an itinerary, Annabeth,” he said, a bit colder than she’d expected, and her mouth snapped closed at the abrupt interruption. “I thought that the surprises would be fun. I didn’t know that you were going to be pissed off about it.”

She crossed her arms, mirroring his demeanor with a stern expression as she turned toward him. Finally, he looked over, seemingly surprised to find her glaring at him. “Are you going to let me talk now?”

“Depends,” Percy said, raising an eyebrow. “Are you gonna be mean about it?”

“Probably a little.”

“Fine.”

“I’m not mad at you,” Annabeth said, dropping her arms. “I just,” she gestured around the room, at the gorgeous furniture and meticulously chosen decor, “wasn’t expecting all of this. It caught me off guard, and I feel kind of weird about you doing all of this for me.”

“Well,” Percy said as he let out a sigh, “if you’d just said that, I would’ve told you that I didn’t ‘do all of this for you.’”

“Really?” she replied, clearly not believing him. “You booked an entire suite just for yourself?”

“No, Annabeth, I booked a single room for myself.” He rolled his eyes and turned toward the stack of luggage in the entryway. “When I realized you’d be joining me,” he said as he lifted the duffle bag onto his shoulder and grabbed the handle of her suitcase before making his way toward the adjoining room, “I called to update the reservation. They didn’t have a standard double room available for the entire week. It was this or a king room with one bed, so this is what we’ve got.”

Annabeth followed as he disappeared into the bedroom, watching as he dropped his bag on the bed nearest the door before he wheeled her suitcase to the other side of the room. “And the car? The valet?”

Percy walked past her to sit on the edge of the bed she supposed could best be classified as his, exhaling heavily as he did. “It might have escaped your notice, Beth, but I stay pretty busy. I get one vacation every few years and it’s in Nebraska,” he continued, looking at her with a look so full of exasperation that she couldn’t help but feel guilty for being annoyed with him. “Forgive me for trying to make the most of it.”

Staring at her feet and feeling like a real asshole, Annabeth chewed on her lip and tried to decide on an appropriate response. No words came, but her body was moving before she could tell it to stop, carrying her to the bed as she sat down beside him. “I’m sorry.” Annabeth waited but no response came, and she figured that she deserved that. “I’ve just been in a bad mood since we talked to Brunner and I’m tired from traveling, and I guess… I guess that I just wanted a fight.”

Percy’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

“Because,” she sighed, shrugging. Her embarrassment with how she’d been acting since they’d left the airport made her want to crawl under the bed and hide until it was time to go back home, and the only reason that she didn’t do just that was because Percy still seemed to be waiting for an answer. “It’s easier than admitting how weird this all is.”

It was quiet for a moment. She was sitting so close to him that she could feel the tension releasing from his shoulders as they sat in the silence. After another minute, he nudged her arm gently. “It doesn’t have to be weird, you know. It could be fun,” he said. “If you let it.”

Annabeth smiled softly to herself in relief that he seemed to have forgiven her, but her eyes were still focused on the floor. “I know.” She looked up at last, unsurprised to find him watching her expression. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be; I was too quick to take the bait anyway,” he said, shaking his head and pushing off of the bed to rise to his feet. He unzipped the bag and began rifling through his belongings until he pulled out a toiletry bag. “Make yourself comfortable— I’m gonna go shower and get ready for dinner.”

-

Despite the rocky start, the rest of the evening passed easily. By the time Percy had returned from his shower, the altercation seemed to be behind them and they were both in markedly better moods. Annabeth had spent half an hour searching for a restaurant on Google before they finally agreed on a place, and she was pleasantly surprised to find that she was only mildly uncomfortable when the car picked them up this time. 

Dinner was pleasant, if a bit quiet. Percy was obviously stuck in his head and Annabeth assumed that it was because of the trials that would kick-off the next morning. He didn’t actually have a race until Tuesday, but she thought that it was completely reasonable for him to be nervous anyway. He was more reserved than usual, but he was as kind as ever and by the time they returned to their hotel room, he seemed to have relaxed a bit. 

They readied themselves for bed, bickering over which trash TV channel they should watch before they went to sleep, and Annabeth eventually won out. She flipped to a channel with a horribly melodramatic reality dating show before tossing the remote control onto the nightstand between their beds. She was grateful for the distraction since it gave her an excuse to keep her eyes deliberately fixed to the television instead of having to awkwardly make an excuse to refrain from looking at a shirtless Percy in the bed across from her. 

There was a part of her that wondered if she’d get used to the sight after a week and a half of sharing a hotel room with him, but she kind of doubted that such a thing was possible. Her taste in both men and women had always trended toward athletic builds, but Percy was on an entirely different level. It was one thing to be muscular, but it was another to look like that and—

And she really needed to stop thinking about that. Annabeth shifted, feeling a rush of blood in her cheeks as she tried to ignore the sudden dull ache between her thighs. As if by divine intervention, her phone buzzed and she reached for it quickly, grateful for the opportunity to think about anything else. 

9:12 PM - CONNOR:
Is Jackson behaving himself

9:12 PM - ANNABETH:
Why wouldn’t he be?

9:13 PM - CONNOR:
Just cheeking

9:13 PM - CONNOR:
*checking

9:13 PM - CONNOR:
And what about u
Miss Chase ?

9:14 PM - ANNABETH:
What about me?

9:14 PM - CONNOR:
Have you managed to
keep ur hands to urself?

9:14 PM - ANNABETH:
You’re an idiot

9:15 PM - CONNOR:
Says more about u than
it does about me 

9:15 PM - CONNOR:
I take that as a yes

9:15 PM - ANNABETH:
Have you always been
this annoying?

“Who’s that?” Percy asked, causing Annabeth’s head to snap up at the sound. 

She shrugged. “Just Connor. He’s just checking in on us.”

He nodded before looking back at the television. “Tell him I said hi.”

9:16 PM - CONNOR:
Since the day i was born

9:16 PM - CONNOR:
According to my mom
anyway

9:17 PM - ANNABETH:
Percy says hi

9:17 PM - CONNOR:
I should just make a gc

9:17 PM - ANNABETH:
No you should not do that

NEW GROUP MESSAGE
CONNOR STOLL NAMED THE CONVERSATION “BIG FAT LIARS”

9:18 PM - CONNOR:
Yooooooo

Annabeth heard Percy’s phone chime from the other side of the room at the exact moment that she laughed and said, “I’m sorry in advance.” She kept an eye on his expression, watching as his brow furrowed for a moment before he looked at the message and a grin spread across his face. 

9:18 PM - PERCY J:
My man 🤙

9:19 PM - CONNOR:
Is she being nice to you

9:19 PM - PERCY J:
She’s always nice to me

9:19 PM - CONNOR:
Can’t relate

9:20 PM - ANNABETH:
I didn’t approve this

9:20 PM - ANNABETH:
And I hate it here.

9:21 PM - PERCY J:
Get over it diner girl 

9:21 PM - CONNOR:
If I’d known that it would
mean having someone else
on my side, I wouldve
suggested chase get a
fake bf a long time ago

Annabeth sighed, laughing as she glanced over at Percy who was still smiling at his phone. “This is stupid. We’re texting in the same room.”

“Yeah, but we’d be leaving Connor out,” he smirked. “Can’t have that.”

“Do you want me to give you two some privacy?”

“If you wouldn’t mind.”

9:22 PM - CONNOR:
I know its past ur bedtime
so I’ll stop entertaining u

9:22 PM - CONNOR:
Chase call me tomorrow

9:23 PM - ANNABETH:
👍

9:23 PM - PERCY J:
Goodnight Connor 😘

9:23 PM - CONNOR:
Goodnight Jackson 😍

9:23 PM - ANNABETH:
GOODNIGHT losers 🤢