House of Balloons || Percabeth AU

4-1 (P)

Percy was not having a good day.

This stupid rain had been coming down for over two hours now and showed no signs of stopping. Which would've been fine as soon as he stepped into the subway station. But that was a little hard to do when the station was flooded. For the first time in all of the years he'd lived in New York City, the MTA was fully closed.

The world really was coming to an end soon.

Adding insult to injury, all of the files in his bag were probably soaked through. So he'd need to redo all of his blueprints that he hadn't scanned in, along with reprinting paperwork, and ten million other things. Sighing in frustration, Percy stood out on the curb, getting battered by the rain, his umbrella long since broken, and tried to hail a cab, but seemingly none of them were empty.

He was in for a long night.

Teeth chattering, he cursed out loud when yet another cab passed him by. God, these yellow boxes on wheels were usually like mosquitos. Of course, as his luck would have it, today they'd be of no help.

Percy was about to give up and go back to the office, deeming he'd slum it there for the night when bright white headlights caught his eye. A familiar car pulled into view and he fully expected it to pass him by before he crossed the street, but it stopped right in front of him. The passenger window rolled down and revealed a dry, smiling Annabeth.

"Having fun?"

His lips tugged up. "Yeah, I am. Free shower, can't complain."

Annabeth laughed and leaned over the console to unlock the passenger door. "Get in. I'll drop you off."

Percy stepped up to the car and bent down to look at her. "It's kinda out of the way for you, isn't it?"

"No, not really, I'll just take FDR instead of Williamsburg. It's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes, Percy," Annabeth laughed. "Hurry up, you're getting water in my car."

A relieved breath left his lips as he entered. Despite all the mishaps with the man, never had he been so thankful for Elon Musk; the heated front seats worked wonders to warm him up.

"Thanks," Percy breathed, rubbing his hands together and blowing into them. He was sopping wet and his hair was no better than a mop right now. "Sorry about your seats... and the floor... and the door."

She waved it off with a little laugh. "Don't worry about it," she said uncaringly and handed him her phone. "Here, put in your address."

Percy smiled lightly as the rain battered down onto the car. The windshield wipers were working in overtime as they cruised down the streets. Traffic was congesting the streets more than normal so the trip would take a while. He didn't mind one bit if it meant spending more time with her. Plus, her music taste wasn't as awful as he'd expected; Norah Jones' Don't Know Why filled the air soothingly.

"See, this is why I drive to work," Annabeth said smugly. "And you said I was dumb to bring my car to Manhattan."

Percy shook his head. "Okay, you got me. I'm gonna start driving now. You win."

"You're only saying that because you're scared I'd tell you to get out."

"Guilty." They shared a little laugh. "I would've asked Zoë but you know how our IT workers are. Gone as soon as the clock strikes."

"Ugh, tell me about it. I needed to reboot my computer last week and then it crashed. No IT in sight for hours."

"Damn."

"Yeah. How is Zoë by the way? I heard she got married last summer."

"She did, yeah. She's good. I never thought the married life would be for her, but she's really happy. And her husband's a good guy."

"That's good. I'm sure you'd beat his ass if he wasn't."

He scoffed lightly. "I'd kill him," he said, half joking, half not. "If not for hurting her, then for taking her away from me. I still might, to be honest."

"You're a good friend, Percy," she said softly.

He shrugged, though very pleased. "I try."

"You do a lot more than that."

Rendering him silent, Annabeth smirked knowingly as she shifted lanes and turned right. The cars had dwindled a bit in this part of the city, thank god. They drove in a comfortable silence, serenaded by smooth R&B for the last bit as they pulled up on Percy's block.

Annabeth put the car in park and shifted to look at him. "End of the line."

He mimicked her position. "Thanks for the ride."

"Sure, no prob."

"Seriously, Annabeth." Percy reached over to squeeze her upper arm, surprising himself, but he schooled it well. "I really appreciate it. I would've been in for a rough night if you hadn't come along."

He really hoped Annabeth didn't feel weird about him doing that. But then, to his surprise, her hand found it way above his, squeezing gently. Their eyes locked, storm clouds over a deep sea, the moment intimate and spread out, and Percy wanted nothing more than to lean over and kiss her.

Good thing Annabeth had more self control than him. Her stupor broke in a flutter of blinks.

"It's no problem, Percy. Just what friends do for each other, right?"

A slow smile spread over his lips. "Right. Speaking of things friends do, would you want to come up? Let me get you some coffee, it's the least I can do."

"No, not today, but thank you." Annabeth looked at him with a serene expression, breathtaking and soft under the glow of the streetlights. "I need to finish up some work when I get home. And I'm sure you do too. Next time, though."

"Next time," he agreed.

And as Percy watched her tail lights disappear around the corner, he couldn't help but think of how much he loved rain.