Percabeth at high school

Chapter 10

Annabeth and Percy planned to go out at around six o'clock for a drive downtown, but her father forced her to stay for dinner.

"You never spend time with your mother and I," he complained. She wanted to point out that it was probably because they were never home, but she stayed quiet. She didn't want to be punished and banished to not seeing Percy for weeks. Honestly, he was the only one getting her through her breakup.

"Fine," she said.

She even helped set up the dinner table while her dad finished cooking. The doorbell rang as she was doing so, and she frowned. "Who's that?" she asked her dad.

He only smiled as he walked towards the front door. When he opened it, Annabeth felt like she'd been punched in the gut.

Luke "The Snake" Castellan, as titled by Percy, was standing in her doorway. He held a bouquet of flowers; all red roses. She preferred tulips.

Behind Luke were his parents. They seemed ecstatic to see Annabeth and her parents, and she wondered what Luke had told them regarding their breakup.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Chase," Luke said, and after their greeting he made his way to Annabeth. "These are for you."

"Why are you in my house?" she asked, keeping her voice down.

"Our parents are friends, Beth. Your dad invited us over, we couldn't just object."

"I don't want you near me," she said.

Luke took a step closer to her. "Why? What was so bad about our relationship?"

Her phone dinged. Percy's message showed up on her screen, but she hid it quickly to not let Luke read it. Unfortunately, he caught the name.

"Is it because of him?" he asked, humor rolling off his tongue like venom. "He'll never be good to you, Beth. That guy just isn't built for relationships."

"We're actually just friends," Annabeth argued. And it wasn't completely true, but it also wasn't a total lie. "Unlike you, I don't have to fuck everyone of the opposite gender as soon as I lay eyes on them." With that, she stormed off to the dining room table. She noticed that only two seats were left open, and they were right next to each other.

It was going to be a long night.

...

"Has Luke mentioned that he was accepted into Duke?" Mr. Castellan asked. Annabeth smiled tightly.

"Several times, yes."

"We're just so proud of him," his wife added. "He's worked so hard throughout his academic career."

And his father worked hard on that check.

"Likewise with Annabeth," Mrs. Chase said. "She's in between schools at the moment, but we're sure she'll make the right choice...in her academic life as well as her romantic life."

Annabeth slowly looked up from her food. She hadn't taken a bite of her mashed potatoes.

"What is this about?" she asked.

"We've been thinking," her father started, "perhaps it's best that you and Luke get back together. Create a secure future, reconcile and forget about this...misunderstanding."

She blinked. "A-Are you serious?" Everyone at the table looked so sure, especially Luke. She suddenly realized that this had all been an intervention of some sort, as if she was wrong to be disgusted with the man who cheated on her. "You're all aware that he cheated on me, right?"

"And I regret that with every fiber in my being," Luke said. "I'm—I was a dumb kid. I've grown from that moment and I promise it won't happen again. Give me another chance, Beth. Let's start our life together."

Annabeth felt tears gather in her eyes. She looked at her mother, but all she got in return was a calculating gaze awaiting her daughter's response. No sense of compassion or pity. She wondered if she was acting crazy. Luke hadn't been too bad to her prior to cheating. Maybe she could forgive him. Maybe she was wrong.

She stood from the table and tried her best not to sprint to her room. As she made her way upstairs, she could hear her father telling Luke, "she'll get over it sooner or later. These things happen."

...

The highlight of her day was when Percy picked her up at nine o'clock to take her for a drive. They decided not to go downtown as it was late at night, but he must've sensed her sadness because he suggested they get ice cream.

As they sat in the parking lot of the shop with their ice creams, Annabeth got the boldness to ask, "wouldn't you consider this a date?"

His hand froze, his eyebrow rising tentatively. "I...don't know how to answer that. I didn't think this was a date when we planned it."

She nodded. "Me neither." He studied her face, and she really wished it wasn't so dark out so that she could do the same.

"Okay," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"Just thinking. You know, for future relationships."

Annabeth didn't like that she said that. In fact, her stomach twisted at the thought of doing this with anyone else. For a second, she could've sworn that Percy's face dropped. She was probably kidding herself.

"Damn, Princess," he said after a while of awkward silence. "All these mentions of a new fling, starting to think you're replacing me."

She laughed, but she couldn't help the feeling of guilt on her chest. What would Percy do if she went back to Luke? Would he even care?

All she knew was that she wanted this date to be real. She wanted the ice cream dates to have meaning, and if Percy wasn't ready to commit to anyone, maybe it was time for her to find someone else who would. Maybe Luke deserved another chance.

Just then, Percy set down his ice cream and grabbed Annabeth's face to wipe some of her leftover cookies and cream off of her chin. She made the mistake of glancing at his lips as he did so, and he noticed.

There was a moment that passed where they only stared at each other, but the moment Percy set his hand on her cheek, Annabeth knew they were goners.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked.

"Just for fun?" she confirmed. She tried to sound nonchalant, but she figured her voice sounded more like a dying horse.

He frowned like he'd forgotten all about their arrangement. "Oh, right. For fun."

She smiled and leaned in, setting a gentle kiss on his lips. He went in for more, keeping his hands on her cheeks steadily. He tasted like chocolate ice cream, and god, she might've actually liked him.

When he finally pulled away, he could only stare at her. "You're breathtaking."

She pushed his hair away from his eyes. "Don't say things like that. I'm not like you."

"What do you mean?"

"I get attached to people."

Percy offered a lop-sided grin. "And who said I wasn't attached to you?"

Annabeth didn't know what to do with that, so she said nothing in return. Instead, she leaned in to kiss him again.