Exchange

Every kind of pillow talk between Percy and Annabeth, and how it changed over the years.

(One-shot)

"Annabeth?"

"Yes, Dad?" Annabeth croaked, turning onto her side and sniffing. She'd been bed-ridden all day, thanks to a horrible cold that may have been the flu, really. But she needed to go back to school to be part of the soccer tournament that Friday. And it was pizza day.

She was calling it a cold.

"Percy's here," her dad said. In the next moment, she saw he'd peeked his head inside her room. "He has your homework."

"Okay," Annabeth said, sniffing again in attempts to clear her nose from endless amounts of snot. Her dad ducked out and the next thing she new, Percy had bounded into the room with a stack of papers.

"Hey, Annabeth!" he said cheerfully. He set all the papers down on her desk before practically leaping across the room to her. "You missed so much at school. Danny said this thing at lunch today, and it made -"

"Percyyyy," Annabeth whined, sniffing again to clear her nose and failing. She moved onto her back. "I don't want to hear how much fun you had at school without me, okay?"

Percy snickered. He and Annabeth had been friends since Annabeth and her dad moved into Percy's apartment building three years before, when Annabeth was seven years old and her mom had left. Since then they'd been inseparable. Sometimes, Percy even swore he could read her mind.

"You feeling sucky?" he asked sympathetically, leaning on the edge of her bed. "I could bring over my play station if that would help."

"Thanks," she said, shifting in her sheets, moving the wet towel a little farther up on her forehead. "I don't think I can get out of bed, though."

Annabeth thought he'd left, until she felt the weight on the left side of her bed. Percy climbed on over her sheets and lay down next to her, placing his head on her other pillow.

"You idiot," she said, rolling her eyes. "You're going to get sick."

"Annabeth," Percy said seriously, turning to look at her, "if I'm immune to your insults, then I must be immune to your cold."

Annabeth snorted. "You're stupid."

"See? Immune."

"Loser." She smiled at him. He always managed to make her smile. "Want to play chess later?"

"No," he answered, wrinkling his dark eyebrows. "I stink at chess. You make me play enough of it at chess club."

"Pleeeease?"

"No!" Annabeth widened her eyes and pouted. Percy rolled his eyes. "Puppy dog eyes don't work on me."

She kept staring at him.

"It doesn't!"

She stared some more.

Sniffled.

"Fine," he said, throwing his hands up. "We can play chess if later you help me with math."

"Deal."

Annabeth knew Percy. She knew that his favourite cereal was Honey Nut Cheerios and his favourite colour was blue and he hated lightening. They were best friends forever. They even spit shook it once.

Those things were legit, you know.

"I just don't get fractions, okay? They haven't made sense since... ever."

"Percy, it's just like... pieces of pie."

"Now I just want pie."

"Shut up, I'm serious."

"My favourite is apple. Or blueberry..."

Annabeth sighed and leaned back in her chair as Percy rattled on about different kinds of pie. For goodness sakes, he was twelve years old! He should understand fractions by now, but he didn't, and that wasn't helping her help him with his percentage homework.

They'd been sitting at the table in Percy's kitchen after his mom made dinner for them, working on their math homework. Annabeth was done, which was good, but she promised to help Percy before she left for the school dance that night.

And he was still talking about pies.

"... and strawberry... man, there are so many different kinds of pies -"

"Percy," Annabeth interrupted, rolling her eyes, "I got it. You like pie. Let's finish soon so we can start getting ready for the school dance."

Percy tapped his pencil on the table. "Sadie Hawkins dance."

"Yeah." Annabeth flushed, thinking of her date. "I can't wait. I asked Josh while we were both alone at the water fountains and he said yes!"

"I know," Percy said, grinning. "You've only told me ten zillion times."

"Hey, I've liked him all year, so..." Annabeth shrugged. "Do you know what you're wearing?"

Percy looked away. "I'm not going."

"What? Why not?"

"No one asked me."

Annabeth blanched, thinking back to the last few weeks. She was sure someone asked him... but now that he mentioned it, she was so caught up in the perfect way to ask Josh, she hadn't really paid attention.

"Why not?" Annabeth asked, thinking to herself. She knew some girls who liked Percy. Though they were kind of the quiet, shy types.

Uh oh.

"I dunno," Percy said, scratching his head with the back of his pencil. "I'm shorter than most of the girls -"

"Oh, come on."

Percy shrugged. "The acne?"

"What?" she asked, though she knew what he was talking about. Annabeth didn't think there was anything wrong with having acne, but she knew he was blaming the red spots on his face for not being asked to the dance.

"It's fine," Percy insisted. "My mom rented a movie and -"

"You should still come," Annabeth cut in forcefully. "I don't want to go if you're not there."

"But I don't have a date." Percy's voice was steady, but she knew it was bothering him. She's the only one he would tell, anyway. "No one will dance with me."

"I will," Annabeth said confidently.

Percy stared at her. "What about Josh?"

"I'll dance with him too. Everyone dances with each other. Just like every school dance. It'll be fun. Then I'll sleepover after and we can watch that movie."

Percy finally cracked a smile. "Okay. Yeah. You're right."

"Duh."

And she was.

"My mom said this is our last sleepover."

"What?" Annabeth exclaimed, sitting up in his bed. It was dark and she could barely see Percy's face. She'd been nearly asleep but he'd pretty much jerked her awake with that statement. "Why?"

"She said we're getting too old." Even in the little light from the window, she could see him roll his eyes. "Going to high school and all that."

Annabeth lay back down. "I can't believe we're starting high school tomorrow."

"Me neither." He paused. "I think I'm going to try out for the swim team."

"You'll so make it in."

"Hell yeah," he said, his grin in his voice. "I trained all summer."

"You taught me how to dive," Annabeth added, "and do headstands."

"Yeah." Percy turned to his side, propping his head up on his hand. He reached out to a stray blonde curl out of her ponytail and twisted it gently around his finger. "It's going to suck that you're not in my math class this year."

"We'll still help each other!" she insisted. "It's all the same material. I'm just kind of worried about getting lost tomorrow."

"Yeah, the high school is huge."

They fell silent. Percy kept playing with Annabeth's hair, deep in thought. She knew he was just nervous. She was nervous, too. She'd heard stories and read books about friendships and teenage drama and she wasn't quite prepared for all the crap that was supposed to happen in the next four years.

"We'll stay friends, right?" Annabeth asked. Percy met her gaze. "Even if we end up in different friend circles and clubs and stuff, we're still going to be friends, right?"

Percy's hand halted in her hair. "You're kidding, right? We've been friends for seven years."

"Right," Annabeth said, chuckling. "I'm just being silly."

"Yep." Percy moved his hand away and lay back down on his back. "Besides, if we stopped being friends, I'd fail. And then you'd kick my butt."

"I already kick your butt."

"Exactly." Percy sent a lopsided grin in her direction. "Bring it on, high school."

Annabeth's phone beeped at around twelve-thirty in the morning. She cracked open her puffy eyes and squinted at the screen.

Percy: Is the coast clear? Can I come over?

Annabeth: Yeah, my dad is snoring. I can hear him from here.

Percy: Hahaha. Key or door?

Annabeth: Key.

Percy didn't text anything after, and she assumed he was on his way. She put her phone back on her bedside table and burrowed herself back in her pillows. Ever since they weren't allowed sleepovers anymore, Percy and Annabeth had made copies of their keys and exchanged them. They didn't always sneak into each other's apartments after their parents were fast asleep, but on nights like these, she could use the help.

It was funny, really. She didn't even tell him something was wrong, but he could just tell. Their walk home was unusually silent, maybe, but before she'd gone into her apartment, Percy asked if she wanted him to come over tonight, and she nodded.

He always just knew.

She heard the front door open quietly, then shut and lock again. Percy's footsteps neared her room until he opened and closed her bedroom door. She felt him crawl into her bed under her blankets and sigh heavily.

"So what happened?" he asked quietly. She turned around and saw he was checking her pillow, which was wet. "Your dad?"

"No." Annabeth felt tears welling in her eyes again. The confession came out as a whisper. "I failed a class."

"You?"

She nodded and wiped her eyes. "I mean, I thought I would've at least passed… I wasn't doing so well. I'm not great at English. But I didn't think I'd fail."

Percy scooted closer and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his shoulder. "It's fine. The only reason I haven't failed any classes yet is because of you."

"I probably shouldn't help you with English, then."

"Shut up." Percy pressed a kiss to her forehead, and her heart stopped her chest. He hadn't done that before. He didn't notice her reaction. "You're the smartest person I know. If I know you, you'll go to summer school and ace the same class. You'll just work harder."

Annabeth nodded. "Thanks."

"Just the truth."

"Another truth: I'm going to get snot on your shirt."

"Don't really care."

"Okay." She kept her face pressed into his chest and sniffed. Her dad hadn't been very comforting. Despite the fact that she'd gotten A's in nearly every other class, he'd given her a lecture and given the "I'm very disappointed in you" look. She was disappointed too, which didn't help.

But she could always depend on Percy, who'd probably gotten mostly B's and C's on his report card as usual. She could feel his hand in her hair again, playing with the strands and soothing her. He'd been doing that a lot lately – playing with her hair. She wondered if it meant anything.

Her friends thought that she and Percy were dating, but they just didn't understand their friendship. She knew Percy had the biggest crush on another girl in their grade, and he knew about her crush on the guy who sat next to her in history class.

And yeah, maybe she noticed that he was taller than her now and his voice had gotten deeper and his shoulders were broader. Maybe she didn't mind watching his swim meets, even if he was shirtless. Even his acne cleared up, but she never really minded it anyway. Sure, maybe they had secret sleepovers and cuddled like this sometimes on movie nights.

But none of it meant anything.

Annabeth fell asleep thinking that even if she had feelings for him, she wouldn't give it up for his friendship. She wouldn't give it up for anything in the world.

"I see what you mean."

Annabeth didn't look up from her math homework, still scribbling in the answer for the math problem. "About the quadratic formula?"

"What? No." Percy waved a hand in front of her to get her attention. "You know how you were saying that making out with Luke was awesome?"

"Yeah…"

"And I didn't get it, because my first kiss was super gross."

"I think everyone's was," Annabeth said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you about to tell me what happened in the closet with Rachel at the party?"

Percy smiled goofily. "Yeah. You were right. Making out is fucking awesome."

Annabeth laughed and ruffled his hair. "Told you."

They were sitting on Percy's floor, math textbooks strewn in front of them, papers and calculators everywhere. They both went to a party the night before, and Percy wouldn't spit out what had happened when he and Rachel had been paired to go in the closet from Spin the Bottle. Even though Annabeth had told him straight away what happened between her and Luke.

"The craziest part," Percy continued, "is that she said she really liked me and wanted to go out. So I guess she's my girlfriend now."

"That's great," Annabeth said, even though she was secretly cursing Luke because he hadn't done the same. But he was known as a player for a reason, she supposed. "Where are you going to for the first date?"

"I don't know." She looked up from her homework to see Percy giving her a look. "Help me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. After math homework."

"Thanks, Annabeth," he said, beaming. "You're the best."

"Duh," she said, going back to her homework. She could still feel his eyes on her as she started the next problem. "Want to take a picture?"

"Are you still upset with Luke for not asking you out?" he asked.

"Well, aren't you Perceptive Percy today."

"I hate that nickname."

"It's rightfully earned."

"Still a stupid nickname." Percy stole Annabeth's pencil. "I'm going to make you nachos to cheer you up."

Annabeth perked up. "Really?"

"You have to help, but yes."

She started to laugh and before she knew it, Percy had picked her up and was heading to the kitchen.

He did anything to get away from math homework.

"Did you get it?"

"Yep."

"I have glasses."

"I also have some cake from yesterday," Percy said, plopping down on Annabeth's bed. "It was really good, thanks!"

"Your mom did most of the work," Annabeth admitted, watching as Percy took out a container of cake, a couple of forks and a bottle of… something. "What is that?"

"I think it's beer." Percy unscrewed the cap and sniffed it before cringing. "Yeah, probably."

Annabeth grinned. "Ready?"

They technically weren't allowed to drink, but everyone around them were drinking and they decided they didn't want to try it at some party and make a fool out of themselves. But they always could be embarrassing around each other, so they made a pact that as soon as they were both sixteen, they'd sneak some and try alcohol. Percy's birthday was the day before.

"I'm ready if you are," he said, taking one of the glasses and pouring out a golden coloured-liquid into it. He filled it halfway and did the same with the other before screwing the cap back on the bottle and holding the glass. Annabeth took hers, feeling foolish.

"Must be good if everyone's obsessed with it, right?" she said, taking a tentative sniff. "Ew. I hope it tastes better than it smells."

"On three?" Percy asked.

"On three."

"One… two… three."

Both restrained from plugging their noses and took a mouthful of the drink. Annabeth could see Percy visibly swallow as the slightly bitter liquid went down her throat. They stared at each other when they'd both swallowed.

"Well," Percy said finally, "that wasn't… awful."

"It kind of was, actually," Annabeth countered, sniffing the beer again. "Do you think people just drink until they can't taste it anymore?"

"Maybe. Or it's just an acquired taste."

"Damn." Annabeth swished the beer around in her cup. "That was anticlimactic."

"Yep."

"Again?"

"We gotta finish it, don't we?" Percy tipped his head back and finished off the rest in his cup. He shuddered afterwards. "Holy shit."

"I'm going to have it with cake," Annabeth decided, reaching over to the container and grabbing a fork. "Maybe it'll taste better."

"Doubt it," Percy said, filling his cup again. "Maybe if we get drunk off of this, we'll figure out what's so great about it."

"We'll probably just get tipsy," Annabeth said, sipping her beer again before taking a bite of Percy's birthday cake. "Not enough for a hangover."

"Something I'm not looking forward to experiencing," Percy said, wincing and grabbing the other fork. "Hey, what happened after the movie yesterday? You know, while I was in the bathroom?"

The bitterness in Annabeth's mouth was suddenly matching the bitterness in her mind. She shut her eyes and tried not to groan. "Oh, that."

"Yeah. I tried asking Rachel, but she made some excuse and left."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "She was just bugging me. Don't get me wrong, she's definitely nice and all, but I couldn't convince her that you and I are just friends. I think she felt embarrassed after I told her that you talk about her all the time."

"Oh." Percy mulled it over for a second before shrugging and taking another gulp of his beer. "Whatever. Whenever she gets like that, I make out with her and she forgets for some reason."

"Shut up, your skills can't be that good," Annabeth teased, and Percy stuck out his tongue at her. "Do you think you're in love with her?"

"I just turned sixteen," Percy said pointedly, stabbing the cake with his fork. "A little young for that, don't you think?"

"Not really."

Percy laughed. "You've been watching too many chick flicks."

"Romantic comedies," Annabeth emphasized, "and I have not! I just think sixteen is old enough for that kind of stuff."

He stared at her for a few moments. "I'm being entirely honest when I say I don't think you're in love with Luke."

Annabeth snorted and took another sip from her glass. "I didn't say I was."

"I don't think I'm in love with Rachel," Percy said contemplatively, chewing on cake. "It's just not something I could say to her."

Annabeth pushed down the feeling in her gut that seemed to be screaming in happiness. It had no business being there. "Really?"

"I mean, I like her a lot, but love seems like too strong of a word. Like I love my mom. Not Rachel."

"Mama's boy."

"Shut up."

Annabeth finished the rest of her beer without a word.

"I can say it with confidence now," Annabeth said as she and Percy entered their hotel room. He quirked an eyebrow at her as he shut the door behind him, and Annabeth shrugged. "Prom is lame."

"It really was," he said, tossing the hotel card key on the table beside the door. "I'm going to dive onto the bed now. You have three seconds to get out of the way."

"One sec – Percy!" Annabeth shrieked as Percy didn't exactly wait the full three seconds. He grabbed her around the waist and jumped onto the queen-sized bed, dragging her down. Annabeth was giggling uncontrollably as Percy pulled her against him, back to his chest, snuggling against her shoulder.

"Get off," she choked out between giggles, and Percy held on tighter. "Come on, I'm so ticklish."

"I know," he said, smiling mischievously against her skin. He loosened his grip and Annabeth rolled over to face him. He reached out to play with her hair. "Thanks for coming with me."

"Thanks for paying for my ticket," she teased, "and the hotel room. Rachel doesn't know what she's missing."

Percy's smile slid off his face. "Don't remind me."

"Hey." Annabeth grabbed his chin to make him look at her. "She's stupid for breaking up with you. She'll figure it out sooner or later, and then you'll be like, 'Sorry Rachel, you missed your chance to lose your v-card to the most awesome guy ever.'"

Percy laughed. "Shut up. We weren't going to do that."

"Liar."

"It's true!" But he was blushing furiously, and Annabeth knew she was right.

"Whatever you say." She rolled onto her back. "Maybe she realized your dancing skills are as bad as they were when we were twelve."

Percy stuck out his tongue at her and rolled onto his back as well, closing his eyes. "It was fun. Almost like we were twelve again."

"Yeah. But I think the food was better at the middle school dances than prom."

"That chicken was gross."

"Exactly." Annabeth sat up and turned away from him. "Can you unzip my dress?"

"Sure." Percy gently pulled the zipper down her back, and she tried her hardest not to blush. She knew there was nothing in between them, but it didn't mean she wasn't thinking about how it was prom night and what usually happened at this time.

Not that anything was going to happen.

"I'm going to change," she told him before picking up her bag and all but running to the bathroom. When she checked her face in the mirror, it was definitely a little pink, but maybe Percy was too tired too notice, or mention it.

When'd changed, washed off all her makeup and let her hair out of her ridiculous bun, she came out to see Percy had also changed into his pyjamas. His eyes were closed as she lay down on the bed next to him and pulled the blankets over them.

"I'm exhausted," she said quietly.

Percy hummed in response. "This is an expensive sleepover."

Annabeth burst out laughing. "You're the one who said you didn't want to cancel the reservation."

"I figured I had the money saved up for this anyway, so… why not?"

"Complete the prom experience."

"Sort of. We did skip after prom."

"It's stupid anyway." Annabeth turned to him, and to her surprise, he was looking at her. "It's just kind of somewhere to get drunk and hook up, and I'm not really in the mood to make out with some random guy I'm going to avoid during our graduation ceremony in a few days."

Percy let out a laugh. "Seems like everything about prom is stupid."

"Everything about high school is stupid."

"True." He reached at the ends of her long blonde hair and tugged it gently between his fingers. "University in two and a half months. Doesn't seem like most of our classmates are nearly grown up enough."

"I wonder if we're grown up enough," Annabeth said playfully, nudging him with her elbow. "Still having sleepovers, and all."

"It's 'cause you're my best friend," he said, eyes twinkling. "Special privileges."

"Maybe."

"Remember when you were afraid that we wouldn't be friends by the end of high school?" he asked softly. She nodded. "I think this means we'll definitely make it through college okay."

"As long as it's nothing like prom," Annabeth joked, turning around to flip the switch on the wall beside the lamp, and Percy did the same. The room went dark and they fell silent.

"Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for taking me to prom," Annabeth practically whispered. "Nobody asked me, and… well, I felt kind of bad. So thanks."

"You just scare most of the idiot guys in our grade," he said, laughing. He surprised her by wrapping his arms around her from behind. "You look beautiful tonight."

"I had better," she joked. "Spent way too much at the salon."

"I meant now, too." Percy pressed his lips against the top of her head. Then her shoulder. And then again. "You're a beautiful person."

"So are you," she whispered back.

For the first time ever, Annabeth wanted to turn around and kiss him.

But she was too afraid to.

"Okay," Annabeth said heavily, setting two heavy textbooks down at her and Percy's table. "I found these, but I don't know if they'll help my essay."

"You'll see," Percy encouraged. He slid one of the two paper cups in front of him towards her. "I snuck some coffee in here, but I don't know if we're really allowed to have it. So drink it fast."

Annabeth laughed and cracked open one of the books, looking through the table of contents. She and Percy had decided to relocate studying to the library that day since she needed some resources for her final essay in class. Percy didn't really need to be there, but she insisted he come along.

Something was off about him, and she couldn't figure out what it was.

They'd been fine a few months ago, but as of late, Percy had been slightly distant, even a little cold. He never said anything particularly mean, but sometimes his tone of voice made her feel like there was something wrong – but he never admitted to anything.

"So what are you doing for the holidays?" Annabeth asked. "Heading to Montauk or anything?"

Percy shrugged. "Not sure."

"I might go to California to see my mom."

"Sounds nice."

Annabeth felt slightly frustrated. "Percy, what's going on?"

He paused in his reading and looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing?"

But she was finally recognizing the emotion in his green eyes. Maybe it was because she'd never really seen it there before.

"You're mad at me." The words felt strange in her mouth. "You're really mad."

Something in his expression broke, and he dropped his pencil onto his book and covered his face with his hands. Annabeth's stomach felt like it was suddenly twisted into a knot. Percy, of all people, had never been mad at her before.

"Yeah," he said. His voice echoed because of his hands cupped around his mouth. "I'm trying not to be, but… I guess we should talk about it sometime."

"How about now?" Annabeth asked, voice trembling.

Percy put his hands down to look at her exasperatedly. "We're in the library."

"I really don't give a shit."

"Fine." He bit the inside of his cheek. "It's about Ryan."

"Ryan?" Annabeth said in disbelief. "But you set us up."

She was really surprised when he had, too. It was halfway through the first month of school and Percy had gone to lunch with the both of them, then left halfway through. Annabeth really liked Ryan, and when he'd asked her out, the only reason she'd said yes was because Percy had clearly set them up.

Ryan was, admittedly, a bit of a distraction. Despite what had happened between Percy and Annabeth on prom night, nothing further happened. She was beginning to think it was a fluke. Or that she dreamed it.

Annabeth could admit that she was crushing on her best friend. Crushing didn't even seem like the right word, because the butterflies didn't show up unless Percy did something special. She mostly felt warm and happy around him.

But that was very unlike how she felt now.

"I set you up?" Percy asked, scrunching his eyebrows together. "Since when?"

"When you went to lunch… and you left…"

"I told you guys I forgot to do an assignment."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "You meant that?"

"Yes? Whatever," he said, shaking his head and leaning towards her, setting his forearms on the table. "I don't really care. I'm just pissed off because you don't seem to understand how to balance dating and friendships."

"I…" She trailed off, speechless. "Did I… have I been ignoring you?"

Even as she said it, she realized how true it was. Ryan was a rebound, and she became a little consumed in him at times. Trying to forget that Percy was the sweetest, funniest, kindest boy she'd ever known. Even if he was a little dumb sometimes. It was easy to forget about how he didn't return her feelings when she was around Ryan, because she did like him.

Just not as much as Percy.

"Yeah, you have," he said forcefully, earning around of 'shh's' from various people at other tables. He lowered his voice and whispered, "Do you even remember the last time we had a movie night or a sleepover or anything?"

Annabeth blushed. "Well… I mean, I've been sleeping over at Ryan's a lot."

In that instant, something wedged in between them.

"You didn't tell me that," Percy said flatly, his face carefully expressionless.

"I… fuck." Annabeth got up and grabbed Percy, dragging him to a corner of the library, between stacks of books, away from curious glances and eavesdroppers. He was still visibly shocked, and Annabeth was nearly shitting herself, unable to even comprehend what to do.

"I'm sorry, Percy," she rushed out guiltily. "You're right. I've been such a shitty friend. I didn't even tell you I had sex for the first time and we tell each other everything and god." She looked down to the carpeted library floor. "I'm so sorry."

"I believe you." He sounded sincere, but pained. "I'm still pissed. I mean, when I was dating Rachel, I never once blew you off for her, or vice versa. It isn't fair."

"I know."

"I mean, I know it's not the same, but we've been best friends for so much longer –"

"Shut up." Annabeth threw her arms around him. "I'm the worst best friend ever. I promise I'll never do anything like that ever again."

Percy squeezed back tightly. He sounded relieved. "Then I forgive you."

Annabeth stayed there, holding him, thinking that whatever was in between them was almost physical. That maybe they couldn't have sleepovers or cuddle or be so close. That they couldn't be who they've always been.

And she hated it.

Annabeth: Come overrrrr

Percy: Key or door?

Annabeth: Door. My dad's on a business trip

Percy: See you soon

Annabeth threw her phone aside and ran from her bedroom to the front door. Percy knocked a minute and later, she threw open the door and nearly knocked him over with a hug.

"Whoa," Percy said, chuckling as he grabbed onto her. "You okay?"

"Fine!" Annabeth said cheerfully, letting go of him and practically bouncing back inside. Everything was so bright and colourful and lively and fun. "I'm really really hungry, are you?"

"No…?"

"I am!" Annabeth skipped over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. "I'm so hungry, I could eat everything in here –"

"Wait a second," Percy said, shutting the fridge door. He took Annabeth's shoulders and peered into her eyes. "Are you… high?"

Annabeth giggled. "A little. Kinda drunk, too."

"Why?"

"I was at a party with Ryan," Annabeth said, opening the cupboard and grabbing a large bag of potato chips. "I drank a little too much, then he gave me some weed and a bong and took me home, but then he left because I said I wouldn't sleep with him tonight."

Percy frowned, following Annabeth as she went back to her bedroom, opening the bag of chips and popping some in her mouth. Percy coughed at the distinct smell of weed in her bedroom. "Holy shit, Annabeth."

"What?" she asked, mouth full of chips. She sat in the middle of her bed and ate happily, almost in a daze. Percy sat beside her and picked up the bong.

"Can I try it?" Percy asked.

"Sure." Annabeth held up a lighter at the end, lighting the weed as Percy put his lips inside and inhaled from the other end. She giggled when he let go, coughing.

"Holy shit," Percy said again as Annabeth took the bong, covering the top.

"Want to try again?" she asked. He nodded and took both the bong and lighter this time, inhaling more smoothly. Annabeth leaned back on her pillows, grabbing another handful of chips. "Keep the smoke inside you for a few seconds."

He did so, handing it back and forth between him and Annabeth until they'd finished the weed. Percy lay back on the pillows beside her after they'd finished, putting the glass bong and lighter on her bedside table and taking a handful of Lays from the bag.

"This is so weird," Percy said sleepily.

"Agreed," Annabeth said, chewing on her chips happily. The drink was wearing off, and she didn't as sleepy as Percy, but she felt very content. Especially because Percy was there. "This was my first time smoking it too."

"Damn."

"I don't think I'll do it again."

"Me neither." Percy put his arm around Annabeth and leaned against her. "I'm scared of what will happen if Christine were to walk and see this right now."

Annabeth snorted and snuggled into him. "How the hell did you convince her that you've never had alcohol? We've been drinking since we were sixteen."

"Right?" Percy laughed. "I know it's not going to last. She's a bit too straight-laced. She wouldn't even try new foods if I asked her. Won't take any chances with anything, you know?"

"Yeah." Annabeth swallowed the remaining chips in her mouth. "I think I'm going to break up with Ryan."

"Too much sex?"

"Too much sex," Annabeth confirmed. Percy laughed.

"I like Christine," he said, "even if she doesn't want to have sex. But it's annoying that I know if she saw me right now, she'd probably break up with me on the spot."

"Girlfriends should accept you for who you are," Annabeth said sleepily.

"Agreed." Percy took a handful of chips.

"And friends. Friends are difficult to have when they're mothers."

"True. Remind me to shower here tomorrow morning so she doesn't find out about this."

Annabeth laughed and rolled up the bag of chips before shoving it to the floor. She vaguely felt Percy pulling up her covers over them, as well as hearing the crack of chip crumbs when she shifted around, getting comfortable.

"Night, Annabeth," he mumbled into her ear.

"Night." She wasn't really sure if the lights were off, but she was drifting off to sleep anyway. Thinking that Percy would even sleep there, in a bed full of chip crumbs while they were both high, and there was no question.

Just acceptance.

Percy: Annabeth, WAKE UP

Percy: I've called you like five times

Percy: Okay sorry I'm coming over, I really need to talk

Annabeth heard her bedroom door just as she was reaching for her phone. It shut again as she groggily read over his texts and saw the five missed calls. Percy took off his shoes and climbed into her bed. She noticed he was in his pyjamas.

"What's going on?" she asked, her mouth dry and sticky. She turned around to face him, and she immediately could see the distress on his face. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. No. Sort of." Percy rubbed his eyes with his palms and laid down beside her. "I did something kind of stupid."

"Kind of?"

"Only kind of." He sunk his head into the pillow and stared at the ceiling. "Okay, I guess in hindsight, it wasn't that bad, but I don't know why I feel so bad. Does that make sense?"

"Kind of," Annabeth said playfully. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and took a deep breath. "Does it have to do with Christine? You texted me and said she broke up with you, right?"

"Yeah. She did that at dinner."

"So then what happened?"

Percy groaned. "I slept with someone."

"You… what?"

"I slept with someone," he repeated, and Annabeth could hear the guilt in his voice. "I don't even know why, I was upset but not that upset, and I was just walking around campus and thinking when this girl started talking to me, and then the next thing I knew, we were in her dorm room."

Annabeth rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. "Who was it?"

"I don't even remember her name," he said miserably. He turned to Annabeth and tugged at the end of her hair. "Isn't that awful? And she fell asleep after and I ran for it. I went back home and showered and I just feel stupid."

"Because you lost your virginity to some random girl?" she asked. Percy nodded in reply. "Who did you want to lose it to?"

"I didn't really have a preference, to be honest," he told her. "I just wanted to be in a good relationship and feel ready. Not to have it on impulse."

Annabeth put her arms around him and tangled their legs together. "I didn't feel ready either."

"You didn't?"

"No." Annabeth buried her hand in his hair and stroked the back of his head, soothing him. "I guess I felt like I should've been ready, and Ryan was getting impatient, so… I just did it. And I was lucky, because he's really good at sex and all that, but I didn't feel great about it afterwards."

"Oh." Percy cleared his throat. "You should've told me."

"I should've."

"I never realized how stupid this whole virginity thing is," he said, letting go of Annabeth. "I know it's a social construct and all, but maybe it's just that I don't want to have sex with anyone I don't have feelings for. Because I just feel…"

"Empty," Annabeth finished. He nodded.

"Exactly."

She settled into his chest and closed her eyes. "It's okay, Percy. I know you're upset now, but it'll be easier to just let it go and move on."

"You're right," he said, wrapping an arm around her. "Maybe I watched too many chick flicks with you and got too sensitive."

Annabeth snorted. "Romantic comedies."

"Same difference."

"Maybe you did," she whispered, "but I like you better when you're sensitive."

She heard the smile in his voice. "You and my mom are the only ones."

"And we're the only ones that matter."

"Agreed."

"I get two hundred dollars, I passed go."

"Right." Annabeth handed over two blue bills to Percy and took the dice. "I want a three so I can land on Mayfair."

"I'm hoping you get two so you land on Income Tax," Percy joked. Annabeth stuck out her tongue and rolled the dice. It landed on four.

"Two hundred for me," she said gloomily. "If only this money was real."

"If it was real, it wouldn't come out of a board game," Percy said tiredly, laying back on his bed and rubbing his eyes. "God, I'm so tired."

"Me too." Annabeth had come over to study, but at around one in the morning, they'd both been too brain dead to continue. For some reason, they'd decided to play monopoly.

"Remember when we used to get so wound up over this game?" Percy asked, grinning sleepily as he remembered. "It always ended by one of us flipping the bored."

"Trust me, if I wasn't too tired to give a shit, that's exactly what would happen," Annabeth told him, laughing.

"True, true." Percy yawned. "Can't believe we're more than halfway through college."

"Just a few semesters left."

"Any idea what you're doing with your degree yet?" he asked. "I'm still considering master's. I looked up some job postings and they all require at least at least a master's degree."

"For marine biology. Yeah, makes sense." Annabeth stretched out her legs and pushed the board aside so she could lie down beside him. "I mean, I'm in the architecture program, so I'm going to do it. I guess I should get my portfolio together and start applying to master's programs then apply to a firm."

"That's good," Percy said. "I'm still considering not doing master's though."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. There are some jobs that accept people with a Bachelor of Science. I want to work somewhere outside or interesting..." Percy looked at her. "I'm not really into research jobs."

Annabeth laughed. "Duh."

Percy grinned at her and took her hand. They were silent as he held their hands up in front of them, intertwining and tangling and squeezing. She knew he was doing it absent-mindedly, and her feelings were buried so deep down that prom night felt as though it was ages away, but she wished he did it because he meant it. In an entirely different way than friendship.

"Is this cheating?" Annabeth asked quietly.

"What?"

"Sleeping over." She turned to look at him. "If Melissa or Colin came in right now, they'd see us having a sleepover. And my legs are on top of yours."

Percy laughed. "It's just how we are."

"Yeah, but is it cheating?"

He paused, still playing with her hand, thinking it through. Annabeth thought she wasn't cheating since nothing was happening, perhaps, but maybe she was always cheating emotionally. Just a little.

"No," Percy decided, startling Annabeth out of her thoughts. "It's not. This is just our friendship, and she'll just have to live with that."

Annabeth stared at him. "You don't love her. Melissa."

"No." He stared back. "You don't love Colin."

"Nope." Annabeth squeezed his hand and stared back at the ceiling, pretty sure she knew exactly who she was in love with. "Maybe we find love after college."

She could see Percy looking at her through her peripheral vision.

"Yeah." He sounded sad. "Maybe."

It was five in the morning. At least six or seven coffee mugs were strewn about, as well as a couple of paper containers of Chinese takeout. Percy was on the floor, laptop open next to an open book, copying in a citation. Annabeth was on her bed, laptop also open, struggling to keep her eyes open as she typed the conclusion.

"In… conclusion… this… is… our… last… fucking… all… nighter."

"Good riddance," Percy mumbled, shutting the book and typing a follow-up to the citation. "Just have to finish this paragraph and the conclusion, then fix the bibliography and footnotes. Then I'm finished this stupid thesis."

"I'm finished the essay and almost finished the bibliography, but I've got to fix something in the blueprints." Annabeth yawned and wrote the real concluding sentence to the essay. "Let's switch essays in ten minutes. Check for typos."

"Sounds good to me." Percy yawned. "In… conclusion… I… will… never… be… in… school… again."

"Fuck you."

"You wish."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and went back to her bibliography, re-checking all the footnotes and the citations. It was almost sad how true his statement was, but she was too tired and stressed to think about it. She pulled out her blueprint, pencil and eraser and began fixing the little things.

A few minutes later, Percy yawned loudly and said, "Okay. Done. Let's switch laptops." Annabeth pushed most of her papers and books she no longer needed off her bed and onto the floor and rolled up her precious blueprints so that Percy could sit next to her. They switched laptops and began to read.

Annabeth liked that they could work together. She always liked the fact that she seemed to be able to focus more when he was around, even if slightly ironic. She liked to think she was too comfortable with him to feel otherwise.

"Done," Percy said maybe fifteen minutes later. "Barely anything."

"Same here," Annabeth said, smirking.

"What are you doing?"

"Creeping on your Facebook." She looked to Percy, who was rolling his eyes. "We don't have enough pictures of us."

"Oh, so the seventy-thousand isn't enough?" he said sarcastically. "Right, let's fix that."

"Percy, we look awful right now," Annabeth said, laughing as Percy put his arm around her and pulled out his phone.

"Perfect amount of sleep deprived," Percy decided. He smiled at the camera and Annabeth stuck out her tongue as he took the picture. He brought it up and laughed. "We're cute."

"Actually, it's just me," Annabeth joked. "Especially with my tongue hanging out."

"Yep." Percy uploaded the photo to Facebook, his arm still around Annabeth's shoulders. Then he laughed again. "Nice status. I hope you've realized by now that I'm not gay."

"Still a possibility."

"Nope."

"What about that time you kissed that guy –"

"Spin the bottle, it doesn't count!"

"Yes it does, you made out with Rachel, remember?"

"Yeah, but I didn't make out with that guy," Percy insisted as Annabeth laughed. "I didn't! Shut up or I'm going to tickle you."

"Don't you dare – Percy!" Annabeth squealed as he ticked her side with one hand, holding her with the other. "Okay, okay, you're not gay!"

He was still laughing as she caught her breath. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm just, you know. Not."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Percy," Annabeth teased. She kissed his cheek and checked the window. "Speaking of which; the sun's coming up."

"I'll set the alarm," he said as Annabeth saved the papers and put the laptops on her desk. She climbed back into bed and settled under the covers with him. He wrapped his arms around her and fell asleep instantly.

Annabeth was drunk. Like, really drunk.

But to be fair, so was Percy, so what was the harm in it?

"Melissa is going to kill meee," Percy sang loudly. They acquired quite a bit of alcohol from the first graduation party they went to. If they were being entirely honest, they might have had a bit too much.

At the moment, however, they hadn't had enough.

And now they were walking in the streets of New York, arms around each other's shoulders, drunk out of their minds and heading to the second graduation party because why not? They had undergraduate degrees, and life was good.

Ish.

"She's going to kill you anyway," Annabeth slurred, teasing him. "She told you not to show up drunk to her house and what are you doing?"

"SHOWING UP DRUNK!" Percy yelled, then burst into laughter. "Holy shit, that hurt my throat."

"Then shut up, you idiot," Annabeth said affectionately. "You're breaking up with her tonight, all right?"

"Fuck yeah!"

"You'll be free and single and ready to mingle!"

"Yeah! But Annabeth –" Percy cut off when he staggered, turning to her and holding her shoulders. He swallowed, trying to keep still. "Seriously, Annabeth. How did you break up with Ryan and Colin? I don't know how. They always break up with me."

"Ryan and Colin broke up with you?" Annabeth said, giggling.

"No!" Percy laughed despite himself, slinging his arm over her shoulder and started walking again. "You know what I mean."

"You just tell her," Annabeth said forcefully as they reached Melissa's apartment building. "Tell Melissa that you don't love her and that you never will!"

"Yeah!" Percy cheered.

"What?"

Oh, shit, Annabeth thought. Percy untangled himself from Annabeth and whipped around to see that Melissa had come out of her building, probably to meet up with Percy for that second party.

"Hey, Melissa," Percy said awkwardly. "What's up?"

His girlfriend looked frozen to the spot. Annabeth thought she was really pretty – no wonder Percy liked her, honestly – but Annabeth knew Percy was leading on his girlfriend to believe there was something more. Percy was just too nice to break up with her.

"I'll just be over there," Annabeth said to Percy, stumbling over to a nearby tree. She could hear them talking but couldn't make out the words – apologies, confessions, break-up drama, it's all it was. A few minutes later, she saw Melissa storming back inside her building and Percy making his way back to Annabeth.

"Well?" she asked as he approached.

Percy shrugged, a grin forming on his face. "Done."

"And you're happy?"

"You said it yourself!" he exclaimed, draping his arm around her and dragging her along. "I don't love her and I never will. We graduated this morning, we're drunk and we made it through middle school, high school and university."

Annabeth laughed. "We made it!"

"Yeah!" Percy pulled her close into a hug and pecked her cheek as they reached the second party.

They finally made it home at four in the morning. In retrospect, Annabeth wasn't quite sure how they'd even made it back to her apartment. It was a mark of how familiar with the city they were that they'd done that… and maybe the doorman helped a little.

"Annabeeeeth," Percy called as she locked the door of her apartment. "I'm really drunk and don't want my mom to kill me."

"She's not going to kill you," Annabeth said, giggling.

"Can I stay?" he pleaded.

"Duhhhh." She threw her keys and her bag on the armchair in the living room and plopped down on the couch. "My dad's out with his new girlfriend."

"Oh yeah, her." Percy smiled goofily at Annabeth as stood in front of her. "She's pretty."

"She's old, you idiot," she said, laughing.

"Doesn't mean it's not true!" Percy grabbed her hands and pulled her from the couch. "Dance with me. We don't have prom for university. We have to dance somehow."

Annabeth turned on the stereo in the living room, unable to fully recognize the singer or song on the radio. She frowned. "This is so familiar."

"Who cares?" Percy grabbed her hands and pulled them to the back of his neck before wrapping his arms around her waist, swaying on the spot. "We still dance the same as when we were twelve."

"We suck at dancing."

"True." Percy dropped his forehead onto hers. "But I want to do this forever."

"Best friends forever, right?" Annabeth told him, grinning.

"Through anything."

Her mind was suddenly whirling. Maybe because of his close proximity, maybe because they were both finally single and not busy or dealing with shit or any of her other excuses for not telling him the truth.

"Through anything?" she repeated.

"Anything, Annabeth." Percy was either clueless or in denial, because Annabeth could feel the love in his words.

She'd never allowed herself to feel those sorts of things for her best friend because it was Percy. She never let her eyes sneak down when he was swimming or let herself stare at his lips or let her mind wander into any sort of fantasy of him. They had something special.

But now she could feel every inch of him against her, every part she wanted to touch and kiss and love, and she was kicking herself because she'd always known their friendship could outlast anything.

The song ended and the announcer came on, and Percy stepped away from her, still holding her hands and smiling. "Thanks for indulging me. Are you tired?"

Annabeth nodded, unable to speak.

She could feel them sobering up as they got ready for bed. Everything inside her body was screaming at her, every time he smiled at her, every time he touched her, even innocently. Because he was always touching her and kissing her, and there had to be more to it. There had to be.

"BOO!" Annabeth squealed as Percy jumped up from behind her and tackled her onto her bed. He was laughing and smelled like toothpaste. He pinned her to the bed, his chest to her back.

"Are you still drunk, Percy?" she asked, giggling.

"Nah.

"Me neither." He relented a little of his weight off of her so she could turn around, but only went back to keeping her there, his knees on either side of her, his elbows propping him up. She stuck her tongue out at him. "We can't sleep like this."

"Nope." Percy brushed her hair out of her face and twisted it around his finger. After so long, he was still playing with her hair. "I'm probably not going to let you sleep."

"Meanie."

"Probably." He laughed. "There's something bothering you."

"Maaaybe."

"Knew it," Percy said triumphantly. "Spit it out."

"I am not spitting on you," she told him.

"You know what I mean."

"Nope."

"You're being difficult."

"When am I not?"

"Point taken," Percy said, chuckling, but she was hardly listening. For the first time ever, Annabeth was paying attention. How it really felt when he was so close, the heat from his body, his skin against hers. How full and pink and soft his lips were and how much she wanted to kiss him.

"Fine, I'll go first," he said, making her eyes snap back to his. "There's something bothering me."

"There is?" she asked. Her voice didn't sound like her own.

"Yeah." Then she saw it – exactly what she was doing – his eyes travelling to her face and neck and down her body. It was so unlike her ex-boyfriends because it was so intimate and personal and welcome.

He forced his gaze back to hers. "My whole problem is that my best friend is so fucking beautiful."

Her breath hitched.

He let himself lower from his elbows to his forearms so he could touch her cheek his thumb. "And frankly, that scares the hell out of me. But I always thought she never felt the same, but now I'm scared for an entirely different reason."

"Why?" she breathed out.

"Because of life," he said quietly. "Because we're going out into the real world – at least, I am. We're not going to be in the same classes or parts of our life and that really scares me."

"I… god, Percy."

"And it occurs to me after fourteen years of being best friends that I can't even stand it anymore," he told her. She closed her eyes as his thumb traced her lips. "I've wanted to kiss her for years and that's never gone away. I've never told her that, which is weird, because best friends tell each other everything.

"So," he said, and she opened her eyes. "What's bothering you?"

Annabeth took a deep breath, leaned up and kissed him.

She felt Percy's weight on top of her against as his hands went to her jaw, kissing her feverishly, and suddenly all she could think of was that this was the best decision in the world. He was nearly demanding but so was she, and the more she breathed him and kissed him, the more of him she wanted.

Annabeth leaned back, panting. "I love you."

Percy's face split into the widest smile she'd ever seen on him. Including the time he beat her at chess. "So that is what's bothering you."

She laughed. "Yeah. It's been bothering me."

"Hmm." He kissed her again. "I'm so tired."

"Me too," she said, trying to stop giggling. She tore herself away from him and pulled the covers over them, even though she was much too hot for that. "Let's go to sleep."

"This is almost worth all the years of sleeping here with hard-ons," he whispered, snuggling into her.

"Shut up," she said, hiding her smile in his shirt. "Go to sleep."

"Sure," he said gently. "As long as in the morning, I can take my time loving you back."

She kissed him until they fell asleep.

"Percy, I think your laundry – Annabeth?"

Annabeth yelped and hid under the covers as Sally – Percy's mom – came into the room. Percy woke up after the fact, confused to why Annabeth was hiding under his covers.

She would've smacked him, but she was naked and his mom was in his room.

"Mom," he stammered, sitting up in bed. "Morning."

Sally cleared her throat, shifting Percy's laundry hamper in her arms. "Would you mind explaining why Annabeth's here?"

"Umm…" Percy rubbed his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that his face was burning. "We were having a sleepover?"

She was definitely going to smack him.

"I thought I banned sleepovers," Sally said, and Annabeth could tell she was trying hard not to laugh. "When you two were fourteen. Especially the naked kind."

"We didn't know you were home," he mumbled, and Annabeth did smack him this time. "Ouch! I mean –" He looked at his mom sheepishly. "Annabeth's my girlfriend now. Surprise?"

Sally sighed heavily. "You two are using protection, right?"

"Yes – Mom, get out!"

Annabeth was snickering when she heard the door shut. Percy groaned and lay back down, and as she emerged from his covers, she saw his head was underneath the pillow. She poked him.

"Hey, drama queen," she said, trying not to laugh. "It's over now."

"That was the most mortifying event in my life," he mumbled against the pillow.

"Really? What about the time you –"

"We are not reliving all my embarrassing moments," Percy said firmly, putting the pillow back under his head.

Annabeth just grinned and leaned over to kiss him. "Better?"

"Much." He kissed her. "Love you."

"Love you too."

"We're probably going to get married, right?" he asked her. She raised an eyebrow.

"That had better not have been the proposal."

"It wasn't."

"Okay." She looked suspiciously at him. "Then yes."

"Good. Then I'll get my mom to revoke the 'no sleepover' rule.

Annabeth smacked him with her pillow, and he laughed, reaching for his own pillow. Without fail, she'd initiated their first ever pillow fight – while naked, anyway – and proved that they really were still best friends.

And she was pretty confident they'd always be that way.