Breathe (Percabeth AU)

I : The Beginning

Tuesday, August 1st.
3:00 pm - the local park

"Hey!" Thalia called. "Wait up, your legs are longer than mine!" Annabeth simply chuckled as the black haired girl caught up to her on the path. "You've always been taller than me," Thalia mumbled.

"I know, but it's not my fault. Longer legs, wider strides." Annabeth shrugged. Thalia shook her head and laughed.

Annabeth inhaled deeply. "Don't you just love the fresh, summer air? Ugh, I love summer," She cooed contently. Summer was definitely Annabeth's favorite season, and not just because her birthday was in July, or that school was out. In fact, that was something that Annabeth missed every year; school. She had to admit, a break was nice, but every September she always returned to school with a bright smile, ready for the year ahead. Academics had always been Annabeth's strong point, and she never found anything that she couldn't do. Thalia, on the other hand, hated their high school more than anywhere else, similar to the majority of any group of teenagers.

"Yeah. Summer is great," Thalia agreed. "Everyone our in their swimsuits, specifically girls," She nudged Annabeth making her laugh, "and of course, there's no school." Thalia smiled.

"You want to sit there for lunch?" Annabeth asked as they neared a small picnic table in the grass.

"Sure," Thalia agreed and the two girls made their way to the table, sitting down. Thalia pulled her back pack off and put it on the bench next to her. She pulled out a lunch, handing Annabeth her peanut butter and jelly, same as always. She began to enjoy her sandwich as Thalia gave her a water bottle.

"So, what did you do last night after I left?" Annabeth knew that Thalia was referring to the night prior; Thalia had visited Annabeth at her house. They talked and just hung around, as usual.

"Well, it was a little weird," Annabeth said, recalling the night with furrowed eyebrows.

"Why?" Thalia asked, looking through the bag for her sandwich.

"Well, I finished The Office—"

"For the 50th time," Thalia teased, snickering. Annabeth simply rolled her eyes, continuing on.

"But I was crying, like, a lot." This was only strange because Annabeth wasn't an extremely emotional person, and she rarely cried for a reason other than anger or frustration. Thalia knew this, for she and Annabeth had been friends for almost as long as Annabeth could remember. Her father was good friends with Annabeth's mother, of course, that was before...

"Okay, are you on your period?" Thalia asked.

"No." Annabeth shook her head, pausing a minute to think. "Now that I think about it, it's a little bit late," she pointed out.

"Well, has it ever really been on time?" Thalia countered. "It could just be mood swings," she suggested, shrugging.

"Yeah, that's true," Annabeth agreed, nodding.

"I mean, it's not like you could be pregnant, so," Thalia said, snickering. She knew that Annabeth wanted to wait—and she respected that, but that didn't mean teasing was excluded.

"Yeah, no," Annabeth laughed, but to be honest, she wasn't entirely sure. She still hadn't told Thalia—or anyone for that matter—about what had happened at the party. She wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it or what to think, but she knew that it made her uncomfortable. She didn't really want to talk about it with Luke, and she had kind of been avoiding him recently.