Percy was probably more nervous than he ever was in his whole life, which was saying a lot, considering he almost died on a daily basis thanks to monsters, angry gods, etc. etc.

Today he was going on his first date with Annabeth, his first girlfriend ever. It was crazy to think that he found someone that actually liked him. She was just so beautiful and smart and strong, he was lucky enough for her to like him back. They've been going out for a few weeks or so after the war with Kronos, but he hasn't gone on a date with her yet because he was so worried about actually going on one. They recently came back from Camp Half-Blood, and school was starting soon, so he thought he should go on one date with Annabeth before they went to Goode.

So for a date, he finally decided to just go to the mall, watch a movie, and maybe go for some cheeseburgers. He knew that sounded a little lame, but he didn't want to go all out, and didn't want to do something to cheesy or stupid. He decided on that because he thought it was perfect for some normal teenagers going on a date, not that they were anything near normal. And because really, cheeseburgers were just always appropriate for anything. That didn't stop him from being anxious, though. Percy paced around his room, trying to decide what to wear. Percy put his hand in his pocket, searching through the cotton and lint for Riptide. He tightened his fingers around the cool ballpoint pen, which always just made him feel a little calmer no matter the situation. He was going to meet Annabeth at the mall a few blocks down from his apartment in an hour. Percy just took a shower, and tried his best with combing his unruly hair. He looked through his closet, trying to collect his thoughts.

He stood there for some time, not doing anything. Percy sighed in frustration and just grabbed his well-worn Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. He put a hoodie over it, and put on his cleanest jeans. He looked at himself in the mirror, and shrugged. Oh well, good enough. Let's just make this first date perfect.

He went to the kitchen, and picked up his wallet. His mom came in, giving Percy that oh my gods look at my baby all grown up now look.

"Are you ready for your first date, Percy?" she smiled.

"Yeah, I'm going to leave now." he replied. She eyed his clothes with a look of worry.

"Wait. I'll help you get into a better outfit." she said, although it sounded more like an order. Percy groaned on the inside, but knew his mom was just trying to help. She grabbed his arm and tugged him back to his room. Percy knew he had no choice but to go along with it.

Annabeth frowned, and twirled one more time in the mirror. Was this really a good idea? Today was her first date with Percy, and she had no idea what to wear. Gods, she felt shallow for worrying so much about this, but she couldn't help it. She was wearing a red sundress with floral print ornamenting the fabric. This was the fourth outfit she tried on, but everything just seemed uglier and more stupid when she wore it. She thought better of the sundress, because it was too girly and there was a forecast with a high chance of rain later in the day. She checked the clock, and it read 11:30. She had thirty minutes until she would meet Percy at the mall near his house.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She was actually going on a date with Percy Jackson. Not on a quest or a suicide mission, but an actual date. For years she had a crush on him, but it seemed like that poor fool was too ignorant to notice, until he did. Annabeth's feelings grew much stronger over the course of last week, when he finally kissed her. Or really, she kissed him. Either way, she was in a state of euphoria after that, floating in the clouds. She took a deep breath, and changed into jeans, and a comfy gray sweater with an owl print on it. She wrapped a scarf around her neck, and decided this was her outfit, because there was no time. She looked at her hair, which was tied up into a messy ponytail. There were times when people would tell her that she should do something with her hair. She would respond that it was meaningless and would just create more work for her. Annabeth ran her hand through her hair, and wondered differently now. Now that she looked at it, it looked really messy and hastily done. She tried letting her hair down, and her golden curls tumbled around her shoulders.

Okay, what's the worst that could happen?

She grabbed her purse and she was out the door.

Percy knew this was going to happen. Now his outfit consisted of a button down shirt tucked into his jeans, he had a tie, and his mom insisted on gelling his hair. He didn't want to turn her down because she was so earnest about it. Now he regretted it, but there was no time now anyways. He checked his watch, and it was 11:55. The movie was going to start in ten minutes. Luckily he was able to get here early, despite all the fussing his mom did. He was sitting on a bench, and searching the crowds of people around him for Annabeth. His leg was jiggling, and his fingers were restless against his thigh. He tried to force himself to calm down, but it wasn't working. He flickered his eyes around the crowd, and he saw her.

He took a sharp breath, and his heart thumped against his chest. Annabeth was wearing jeans, a gray sweater and a scarf. Her hair was down, and it took him by surprise by how good she looked. Her hair fell around her shoulders, and her stormy gray eyes matched the clouds that were overcast. She didn't seem to be trying to dress up, but it didn't matter.

She smiled at him, and his heart stopped. Oh gods, he wasn't going to be able to do this. He managed to weakly wave her over, grinning.

She jogged over, and he bit his cheek to stop himself from grinning like a fool. "You look… different."

Annabeth looked taken aback. "Really? Is it bad? I'm sorry, my hair's a mess, huh?" she looked flustered now.

Shoot, shoot, he messed up. "Uh, no! That's not what I meant. You just kinda look really nice today. Um, sorry."

She seemed to recover, and smirked. "Percy, did you really gel your hair?"

He put his hand to his head self-consciously. He nervously laughed, and said, "Yeah. Mom fussed a little too much about it. First date and all-" He stopped himself. Did he just admit that this was his first date ever?And that his mom did his hair for him? He felt like crawling into a hole and letting the harpies devour him. "Well, we should go get the tickets for the movie." He looked away, and walked towards the ticket booth. Percy decided they should watch Frozen, a movie that was popular enough to be in theaters for over five months. He worried it might be too kiddish, though. He examined the theaters, and the line for tickets was packed today. Annabeth stood by him, waiting.

Ugh I should have bought the tickets beforehand, what am I doing? So much for perfect. He cursed himself.

They waited for thirty minutes until they reached the front. Percy walked up to the ticket guy, and said, "Two Frozen tickets for 12:05, please."

The man responded, "Sorry, Frozen is sold out for the whole day."

Panicked, Percy scanned the movies available. Every movie was sold out for another four hours. "Uh, well nevermind then." He awkwardly paced. He looked at Annabeth, but he couldn't read her expression. Worry clouded his heart, and he asked Annabeth, "Well, should we grab lunch first then?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry anyways." Annabeth said. Okay, just don't ruin this, Percy. Perfect, remember? He reminded himself. Percy got a hold himself and started his way over to the restaurant.

Annabeth felt bad, but she just wanted to laugh. First, it was the adorable outfit Sally forced Percy in, then how he seemed so worried. He looked great, though. Percy seemed to be able to pull almost anything off, whether it be tacky ties or monster slime. And Annabeth thought she was going to have an anxiety attack. She just wanted to grab Percy's face, and assure him that they could be taking out trash together and she would be fine if it meant being with him. Like really, they've both seen each other beat up, grimy, and on the verge of death. They already saw pretty much the worse parts of each other, so there was no need to be worried to make this perfect.

Percy led her into a restaurant, and the first thing that hit her was the smell. There was a lot of people here, which didn't help the stench. It was a gross mix of sweat, old leather and greasy food. Percy noticed it too, and wrinkled his nose. He walked up to the waiter, and said "Uh, table for two, please?"

The waiter scanned the packed restaurant, and replied, "That will be another forty minutes, sir." Percy looked like he saw a ghost.

"Okay, thank you." he said. He looked beat down, now, not knowing what to do.

Annabeth's heart hurt, he was trying so hard for her, it was endearing. She slipped his hand into hers, and looked up at him."You know, do you just want to go to your house and watch a movie there? Maybe grab some pizza."

He looked surprised, but agreed. He called a pizza place to deliver at his house, and they started walking to his house. Annabeth was enjoying the little walk, until it started raining. A lot. She squealed and started dragging Percy towards his house.

By the time they got there, Percy and Annabeth were drenched. Annabeth breathed hard from running, and looked at Percy. He seemed to have given up. Annabeth asked, "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, just… Gods, this was just horrible. I'm so sorry, I couldn't even succeed in taking you to the movies. And this is the second time." He said, and Annabeth remembered that time they were going to the movies as friends, but then demon empousai had attacked Percy, and burned down part of his school. Then Rachel was with him, and… Yeah. She and Rachel were friends now, so everything was good.

"Hey. it's okay. Really." Annabeth said. Percy didn't reply and they walked in together. Sally saw them, and gasped. "Oh, my! You guys are drenched! Do you want some hot chocolate? Lunch?"

Percy nodded and answered, "Well, we ordered pizza, but hot chocolate would be good."

Sally smiled and went to the kitchen. Percy plopped down on the couch, and Annabeth sat down next to him. They sat there in comfortable silence, until Sally brought them hot chocolate. "Well, I have some errands to run, so I'll leave you two." She winked at Percy, and his face flamed.

"Mom, please!" Percy exclaimed. Annabeth laughed, and Sally left the apartment. He groaned, which only made her laugh harder. He seemed to lighten up at that, and the atmosphere cleared.

The pizza guy came, and Percy paid him. When the pizza guy left, Percy set down the pizza on the table in front of them.

"Well, I guess we should just watch a movie here." Percy said.

"Sure, what do you have? Uh, Disney or Pixar please?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, there's The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story-"

"Finding Nemo," they both agreed instantaneously. He smiled at her, and Annabeth's heart jumped.

They snuggled in the couch together, feasting on pizza and hot chocolate, but something wasn't right. She looked up at Percy, and his eyebrows were furrowed together like they did whenever he was worried. Nemo's mom just died, and he didn't seem to notice. Now that wasn't right.

"Hey, are you alright? I mean, the mom just died." Annabeth said, wiping her watery eyes.

"Sorry, I just can't seem to focus." Percy replied.

"Is it still about how our date was kinda ruined?" Annabeth questioned. Percy met her eyes, and knew she was right. "Percy, I told you it's fine, it's not a big deal-"

"Yes, it is! It's our first date, and I couldn't make it perfect. I couldn't even go to the movie theater, and the restaurant was horrible. I just wanted this to be a really nice day with just you and me. Gods, I sound sappy." Percy groaned.

Annabeth's face flushed, it was so cute how serious he was about this. Normally he always seemed so aloof, Annabeth was worried she was too hung up on everything.

"And now we're sitting at my tiny apartment and eating cheap pizza sitting in the old couch." Percy added.

Annabeth turned towards him sharply, and countered, "Percy. You don't have to treat me like I'm a spoiled princess or anything. Don't be so worried! Okay, Percy, I really don't care what we're doing, I just know I like everything a whole lot better as long I'm with you!"

Percy seemed so surprised by that, it was funny. "Like, really. If I just wanted to date you because of where you'll take me and what you'll buy me, what will that make me? We've known each other for half a decade, and the whole time I just wanted to be there with you. Half the time it drove me near insanity, I didn't know why you had to make me feel this way. There were times I missed you when you left me to go get me a glass of punch! Or sometimes we were fighting some stupid monster and it almost killed us but I was the happiest girl in the world for some reason because you were at my side. I was confused for years, and now we finally kissed and we're dating and the least of my worries is what we did or will do on our date." Annabeth realized she was rambling, and bit her lower lip to shut herself up.

Percy seemed to be speechless, and Annabeth just burrowed her head into his shirt to hide the color in her cheeks. "Gods, why did I ever fall for someone like you?" Annabeth mumbled into his warm chest.

Percy laughed for real this time, and held her closer. "Maybe because of my awesomeness and incredibly good looks?"

Annabeth pulled Percy in, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

She rolled her eyes, and replied, "Just shut up and kiss me, Seaweed Brain."

Annabeth remembered the familiar taste of the sea in his lips, and almost couldn't kiss him again because she couldn't stop smiling.

Percy lay in his couch and stared at the ceiling. Annabeth went home just a few minutes ago, after the movie ended. Not that either of them were really paying attention to the film, anyways. They were too busy snuggling in each other's warmth and just talking about whatever came to their minds. They also just kind of made out.

He was stupidly happy with their first date like a thirteen year-old girl. Percy remembered how nervous he was about making this first date perfect, and laughed at himself. Percy should've known that someone like him and Annabeth didn't really do perfect. He grabbed the T.V remote and replayed Finding Nemo, since he didn't really watch it the first time.

As he was relaxing, he realized Annabeth was right. Nothing really mattered as long as they were with each other.