Recorded Dreams (A Percabeth AU)

7

Percy POV-

I dashed to the studio, I got detention at school, and I knew I would be late to work if I didn't hurry.

I arrived and swung the door open wide. I saw the boy at the front desk again. I jogged over to him.

"Hi! Percy, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm new, what studio do I need to record in today?" I responded.

He looked down at a paper on his desk, scanning over the words.

"My dads orders, according to this sheet, are 'Percy to Annabeth's studio for a final day of practice before actually starting work.'"

I smiled, excited to see Annabeth.

"Okay, thank you..."

"My name's Will Solace." I nodded.

I went to the elevator, heading up to Annabeth's studio. As I heard a ding and watched the doors open, a boy with reddish-brown curly hair ran into me, attempting to get in as I was getting out. We both fell over.

"Sorry," we said at the same time. I felt bad, he looked nervous about something, and I probably just made his day worse. I stood up and then put an arm out to help him to his feet.

"I'm Percy," I said.

"Grover. Are you new? I haven't seen you here before," he asked.

"Yeah, I got hired yesterday."

"Oh, okay. Good luck. Apollo can be tough."

"Hmm... he hired me because I was 'interesting', no other reason. Trust me, if he hired because of academics, I would not be here," I said, "he can't be that tough."

"Just be careful, alright. Lots of rules." He smiled at me and straightened out his orange Rasta cap. He climbed in the elevator and the door slowly closed as he turned and smiled at me.

Weird.

I shook my head as I walked to Annabeth's room. I knocked on the door. I could hear footsteps and the door swung open.

"Hi Seaweed Brain," she said, a grin showed off her white teeth. She was again dressed in jeans and an old t-shirt, her hair was in a sloppy ponytail, but she looked beautiful.

"Hi Wise Girl," I returned. She smiled at the nickname.

She sidestepped and motioned for me to come in. Once I was in she closed the door and rushed over to the coffee table, picking up a poster. I smiled, knowing it was the one for Estelle. She handed it over.

"Thank you! She'll love this!" I exclaimed. I hugged Annabeth, happy to be able to give Estelle something so amazing. Then I realized that I was hugging Annabeth Chase. I was about to pull back when her arms went around me too. She smelled like lemons, reminding me of summer.

As we pulled away, I saw that her cheeks were rosy and I didn't doubt that mine were too.

"I'm... I'm happy I could help," she said, her gaze traveled all across the room, not ever meeting my eyes.

"Do you- umm- do you mind if I stay in here to practice with the sound system?" I asked.

She shrugged. "That's fine. Tell me if you need anything."

I set down the poster on the table and sat down at the sound system, trying to memorize the controls. Every so often I'd get a glimpse of Annabeth writing on a price of paper, songwriting probably. I could hear her humming a catchy tune.

I took a peak at her again and my eyes caught hers. We stared for a moment or two. I turned my head back to the sound system, my cheeks feeling warm. I felt too flustered to even give an apology for staring.

From behind me, I could hear her groan, clearly frustrated with whatever song she was writing. I turned my head to see her digging through her bag, switching out the paper for blueprints.

I watched her curl up and start drawing her design. I tried not to stare, but there was something about her and I couldn't look away. She looked so at ease, so normal. Like she wasn't a pop star.

"Annabeth?" I said. She looked up at me, raising her eyebrows. "You didn't want to be a pop star, did you?"

She looked surprised that I'd even say such a thing. For a second, I thought that I screwed up big time, made her upset with me. Then, she sighed, "I don't. How'd you know though? Rumors spread?"

I sat there for a moment. I was a little shocked that she didn't want this life. "I don't know. The way you write lyrics compared to the way you draw on the blueprints is completely different. You're so much more into the blueprints."

Her cheeks turned pink. She looked towards the door to make sure it was still closed. "Yeah. You're the only person besides Thalia who knows about this though. No one else can know. No one."

"Okay, but why don't you quit?" I asked. She looked at me like I was an idiot, or as she likes to call it, a Seaweed Brain.

"Percy, I can't just quit. Trust me, if I could, I would," she said.

"Oh okay." I didn't know what to say and I felt bad for her. I turned back to the sound system, knowing our conversation was over.

I could see her out of the corner of my eyes as she started drawing again. She hummed to herself quietly. I didn't dare ask her to sing to help me figure out how to work the sound system well, not with the information she just gave me.

My phone started buzzing. I looked at the screen to see my mom calling me. I picked it up and answered.

"Hey mom," I said.

"Hi Percy. Are you at the studio?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, dinner's in the oven, just so you know."

"I'll be home soon."

"Okay, bye Perce."

"Bye mom." I hung up the phone and looked at Annabeth. "Hey Annabeth, I gotta go, see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. See you," she sighed and continued drawing. I felt bad for leaving her here, alone, but I knew she was very capable of getting her own dinner if she wanted one. She also had some musician friends that she could easily go see.

"Bye." I started walking to the door.

"Don't forget the poster, Seaweed Brain." She grabbed it off the table, setting down her blueprints. Then, walked over to me and handed it over. She engulfed me in a hug, which really surprised me. I could feel my cheeks getting warm. "Send me a video of her reaction."

Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, "why don't you see the reaction yourself."

"What?"

"Do you want to come over for dinner?" She looked shocked. I wasn't sure why I did it, or what her answer would be.

"Are you sure Percy? You said your family's struggling for money, they don't need another mouth to feed-"

"Annabeth, it will be fine. Trust me. My mom will be happy to have someone else there, she loves guests."

"Are you-"

"It's fine, Annabeth. Yes, I'm sure." She smiled at me.

"Alright. Thank you, Percy."

We headed out of the room and down to the first floor.