a.n. thanks for the nice feedback, guys. every nice comment makes me smile and i really appreciate you taking the time to read and review :) this is more of a bonus chapter, really. it's pure fluff.

six.

Percy's hands were warm and steady on her waist, holding her relatively still despite how shaky her legs felt. Her spine was rigid, her arms flung out to the sides. Her brows were furrowed and she was pretty sure her tongue was poking out the corner of her mouth - Annabeth's classic concentration face. This wasn't coming naturally to her, but Annabeth refused to give up. If Percy could do it, so could she.

"Are you good?" he asked, mouth right by her ear.

She didn't turn her head to reply, scared that the slightest movement would throw her off balance. "Fine."

His laugh moved the curls by her ear and his hands squeezed a little tighter around her waist, verging on ticklish. "You sure? You seem kind of tense… Maybe a little frazzled?"

"Frazzled? Cute throwback, Percy, but I am far from frazzled." She hoped he caught her glare, even though it was directed at the board she was balanced on and not at him.

His hold on her loosened and she panicked, tipping to the side almost immediately. She yelped, over corrected, started to fall to the other side and clutched at his arms in an attempt to stay upright.

He was laughing, but he caught her easily and helped her centre herself on the board again. While she'd been flailing around he'd casually stopped his skateboard with one foot, and she envied how easy he made this look. When Percy skated, it was like the board was an extension of himself. When Annabeth skated, it was like putting rollerskates on a giraffe - entirely inelegant. She wasn't used to feeling so uncoordinated.

"Not frazzled, you say?" he teased, sea green eyes sparkling with amusement.

He'd moved from behind her to beside her now, so she could throw him a proper glare.

"Try a trick like that again and you'll be the one who's frazzled," she ground out.

His smile softened around the edges, and she felt him flex his fingers just above her hipbones. "You're overthinking it," he said. "Try to feel the movement of the board."

"I am," she said, annoyed by how close her voice was to a whine.

"Try again," Percy said calmly. "And it took me ages to get the hang of it, you know. You should be proud you haven't stacked it yet."

"Yet," she noted, wobbling slightly as he pushed her forward.

"Yeah, it'll probably happen. But I'll catch you, don't worry."

His words made her smile. Since that morning on the Montauk beach, Annabeth felt like she hadn't stopped smiling.

None of their friends had been surprised when they'd wandered back into the cabin holding hands and with sand in their hair. Piper had enveloped them both in a bear hug and wouldn't stop saying how happy she was and how she'd known they'd get together all along. She'd kept going until Jason gently pulled her away and distracted her by asking her to teach him how to surf. Rachel had just smiled knowingly and given them both a high-five.

Grover's reaction had been the most surprising. He'd kept his cool until the three of them were alone on their last night at the cabin, sitting around the dying embers of the fire and reminiscing about the trouble they'd gotten into at the start of semester. He'd congratulated them, voice cracking, and his eyes had started to water.

"Uh, are you okay?" Percy had asked, slowly moving his arm from around Annabeth's shoulders and reaching out to him.

"Fine," Grover sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Just… really happy for you guys."

"Hey, you get to see Juniper tomorrow, right?" Annabeth said brightly.

Percy flashed her a grateful smile. "Yeah! Hey, we should hang out more, the four of us."

Grover smiled at them. "You guys are the best. I should go call her, actually, check what time we're meeting up tomorrow."

He'd left them by the fire, and Annabeth had knocked her knee gently against Percy's. "What was that about?"

He shrugged. "No idea. Just… Grover being emotional, I guess."

She hadn't said anything, but Annabeth wondered if he was worried about his and Percy's friendship. Everyone always said that friendships changed when you got a new partner, but Percy and Grover were so close she couldn't see them being affected. Besides, she'd been monopolising Percy's time for months now and the boy's friendship hadn't suffered.

And it wasn't like the fact that were now 'officially dating' meant that the dynamics of Percy and Annabeth's relationship were suddenly going to change. They were still the same people.

As always, Annabeth was right. Their friendship hadn't changed a whole lot, really. If possible, they'd become even more inseparable, but they'd gotten most of the intimate, emotional stuff out of the way already, so it wasn't like a massive shift occurred.

She still called him out when he was being an idiot, and he still forced her to take study breaks and challenged her to stupid competitions like, 'I can catch more jelly beans in my mouth than you can, here throw these at me and I'll show you - no, Annabeth, ew, not the black ones, throw me a blue one'. (She threw the black one right at his forehead, but when she did throw the blue one he did indeed catch it in his mouth).

To be fair, there was definitely a lot more making out. Rather than wiping cupcake crumbs from his mouth she could now kiss them away, and rather than greeting him in the morning with a comment about how he drooled in his sleep, she got to kiss him and then tease him about his drooling. She no longer waited for him to fall asleep on movie nights before cuddling up to him, and his habit of skating shirtless stopped being a form of divine torture and instead became a twisted, very enjoyable version of foreplay.

Speaking of, the feeling of Percy's fingers brushing against her bare skin brought Annabeth's focus sharply back to the present. His slid one of his hands around to the small of her back, grazing the small gap between the hem of her t-shirt and the waist of her shorts, and pushed her forward. She rolled more than an arm's length away, his other hand fell from her waist, and she was on her own. She tottered uncertainly on the board, so uncomfortable without his support that it took her a second to realise that she was doing it - she was skating!

She glided forward, bending her knees slightly to lower her centre of gravity, and she heard Percy whoop excitedly behind her.

"Go Annabeth!" he shouted as she rolled on.

She was going at a snail's pace, but whatever. She was keeping herself upright on the board, and she was moving. It was a start.

"I'm skating! Percy, I'm actually skateboarding!"

He laughed and jogged after her. "Yeah you are!"

She picked up a little bit of speed as the ground started to slope slightly downwards, but she was too elated to be scared. She was getting a bit of a rush from it, actually. It was a great feeling, knowing that Percy was sharing something like this with her. It was such a big part of his personality, and she was grateful to have another thing they could bond over.

Until the board hit a bump at the bottom of the slope and she pitched forward dangerously, arms pinwheeling in a vain attempt to keep her from face planting.

"Percy!"

Before she could hit the ground he was there, strong arms catching her torso and holding her up. The board slipped out from beneath her, shooting back up the slope a few feet before rolling back down and hitting her right in the achilles tendon. She cursed and kicked it aside, using Percy's arms as leverage to haul herself up to a standing position.

"You okay?" he asked, obvious concern splayed across his features.

He didn't let go of her, merely shifting his grip to her biceps. He looked her over, checking for non existent injuries, while she scowled and thought about how dumb it was that she could run for miles but couldn't balance on a stupid plank of wood with wheels for more than five minutes.

"Fine," she muttered, shrugging him off. "I'm fine. Let's go again."

"Again? Are you sure?"

She met his gaze, and any further protests he might have had died on his lips. It was obvious from the set of her jaw and the look in her grey eyes that she wasn't going to let this go. Once she'd set herself a challenge, Annabeth Chase did not give up. Annabeth Chase refused to be beaten by a plank of wood.

Percy pushed his snapback up off his forehead and took a deep breath. "All right. Let's try again."

It took the better part of an hour, but eventually Annabeth was gliding unaided across the mostly-empty dorm parking lot. Figuring that she'd lost most of her dignity about half an hour ago, when she'd fallen backwards off the board and straight onto her ass, she shouted with joy when she made it to the bottom of the slope without toppling. She half-ran off the board, momentum keeping her feet going, and it took her a few steps before she was balanced enough to turn around. She stopped the board with one foot before triumphantly lifting it over her head and doing a happy dance.

"I have conquered the skateboard!" she yelled.

Percy ran over to her, beaming. "Annabeth, that was -"

"The coolest thing you've ever seen? Damn straight," she said teasingly, lowering the board. She held it by the wheel bracket with one hand, letting it hang by her side like she'd seen Percy do so many times before.

His eyes flicked from her face to the board and back again. "It was hot," he said, already leaning in to kiss her.

She met him halfway, taking a small step forward so that her feet were in between his. She lifted her spare hand to his chest, bunching up the material of his flannel shirt and pulling him down so she could kiss him harder. His hands started in her hair, as they always did. He ran his fingers through the silky strands and down her back, gliding down either side of her spine before finally settling on her hips. He tugged her forward until they were pressed flush together, until they were kissing in a way that was entirely inappropriate for a public space.

When they parted she felt a bit lightheaded. Euphoric, even.

He was looking at her like she'd handed him the moon.

She reached up and swiped the snapback off his head, putting it on over her ponytail and darting back. She struck a pose: one leg bent at the knee, board resting against her shin, opposite hand on her hip, head rolled slightly to the side. "How do I look?"

"You look… incredibly hot."

She scoffed, tilting her chin up to look at him without the brim of the slightly-too-big hat in the way. "Is that all you've got?"

"I can't find the words." He gestured to her, waving his arms up and down and shaking his head in disbelief. "Annabeth Chase, my girlfriend, official skater girl."

His words sent a little thrill up her spine. "First official New Yorker, now official skater girl. Percy Jackson, what are you doing to me?"

He shrugged with false modesty, one hand ruffling up his hair.

"Does this mean I get to come to the skate park with you now?" She dropped the pose and let the board fall to the ground with a clatter.

He frowned. "You already come to the skate park with me."

"Yeah, but now I can skate with you. Like a real skater. Skating. For reals." God, she'd been spending way too much time with him. Six months ago Annabeth would never have said something like that, but now it came to her naturally. Just another little piece of Percy that she'd taken for herself.

He grinned easily and sauntered towards her, one hand in the pocket of his jeans. "Do you think you're ready for that, official skater girl?"

She planted one foot on the board and pushed off, skating shakily around him. She almost lost it when she had to swerve slightly to avoid hitting him, but she managed to maintain control, which was a massive boost for her ego.

"Yeah I'm ready for it, Seaweed Brain. Are you ready for it?"

"Oh, she spends ten minutes on a board and suddenly she's a pro?" He watched her skate away slowly, grinning.

"Hey, you were proud of me two seconds ago!"

"I'm still proud of you, Wise Girl!" That was obvious from the tenderness in his gaze, the softness of his smile. She'd already known it, but it was still nice to hear.

She deepened her voice to a poor imitation of his and said, "Hi, I'm Percy Jackson and I'm the skateboarding king. No one can skate as good as me. Watch me do some sick tricks."

His laughter followed her as she propelled herself into a clumsy turn. She barely managed to stay on the board, but she did it. She sailed back towards him with a goofy grin, arms raised triumphantly. He stepped aside as she skated up beside him, rolling slowly to a stop and stumbling off the board. She kicked it up, sending it flying sideways. Okay, so that hadn't been quite as cool as she'd been hoping. She flashed him a sheepish smile before running after the board, scooping it off the ground and holding it out to him.

"Well, I've shown you all of my sick moves. Your turn now."

"How am I meant to follow that?" he said with a smirk. He took the board from her.

She tossed her ponytail over her shoulder imperiously. "You might be able to come up with something. Maybe."

He narrowed his eyes at her, taking the bait easily, and skated off effortlessly. "Yeah, I think I can come up with something."

She stood with her arms folded over her chest and watched him as he did laps around her, kicking the board up and jumping over the gutters easily. He did what she was pretty sure was an ollie, and then something called a noseslide along the gutter, where the front of the board ground along the pavement. He flipped the board under his feet mid-turn and rolled back towards her smirking.

"What'd ya think?"

She shrugged one shoulder, pretending to be unimpressed. "Hm. It was all right."

He mocked offence, splaying a hand over his heart. "Just all right?"

She broke immediately. "No, that was amazing!"

She launched herself at him with so much force she almost knocked him over. He held her tightly as he scrambled for balance, the sudden impact of her hug sending the board flying out from beneath his feet. Somehow they managed to stay standing, and he kissed her deeply.

He didn't even move his lips from hers when he tugged the snapback off her head and put it back on. Her eyes shot open and she wrenched back to yell at him, but he was already reclaiming his board and skating away.

"Percy! Give me back the hat!"

"It's my hat," he called in sing song as she chased after him.

"It looks better on me."

His offended gasp, coupled with his outraged expression as he skated by her sideways, made her crack up laughing. She had to stop running because she was laughing too hard to breathe properly.

"That's mean, Annabeth. You're being so mean to me today."

"I'm sorry," she said genuinely, straightening up and watching him. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"Well, they're hurt," he said petulantly from the other end of the parking lot.

"What can I do to make it up to you?"

He skated in a lazy circle, pretending to mull it over. "Maybe a kiss better."

"You want me to kiss your feelings better?" She raised an eyebrow, wondering how she'd ended up with someone so immature, and when immature had become a thing that she loved.

"Yeah. It'd probably help."

She crossed her arms. "I'm not convinced."

"Here, I'll show you my latest trick. Then you'll be so impressed that you won't be able to resist kissing me."

"Oh, how exciting," she said, totally deadpan. "Go on then, show me this amazing trick."

He grinned at her, full of confidence and bravado, and took off at a remarkable speed. She watched him zoom by, watched the front wheels of his board lift off the ground, then the back. She watched him do a half-turn, but then, in the millisecond that it took her to blink, something went wrong. He lost control of the board. He managed to tuck his arms in and turn what was going to be a face plant into a roll at the last second, but he still landed hard on the pavement. There was a sickening crunch, and he groaned. He rolled onto his stomach and lay still, which was honestly more worrying than the groaning.

"Percy!" Annabeth ran to him, dropping to her knees and crouching beside him. "Percy, are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm totally fine. I landed on this nice soft bitumen," he muttered.

If his sarcasm was still intact he couldn't be too badly hurt. She gingerly brushed his hat up and pushed his hair out of his eyes, checking for any head injuries. His face looked a little red, but she thought that might be from embarrassment more than anything.

"What hurts most? Did you hit your head?" she asked.

"No, my head's fine. I'm totally fine." He started to sit up, groaned and lay back down.

"Percy…"

"All right, my elbow hurts a bit."

His arms were cradled beneath his chest, but she could see shredded fabric hanging from his left sleeve. She leaned forward, tilting her head down to see a splash of red covering the exposed skin of his elbow.

"Can you move it?"

Rather than attempting to sit up, he just shifted slightly on the ground and held his arm out to her. His left side was covered in dirt and the gash on his elbow looked pretty gruesome, but it wasn't deep. He straightened and flexed his arm without too much complaint, so she was pretty sure he hadn't dislocated or broken it. She gently rested it against his side and flattened herself out, lying beside him on the bitumen. She tried to ignore the little stones she could feel digging into her legs and arms.

"Hey."

He blinked at her. "Why are you lying on the ground?"

"Because you're lying on the ground. And I have something to tell you."

Percy arched an eyebrow at her, intrigued.

Annabeth shuffled a little closer, until she was pressed right up against him, and put her lips right by his ear. "You're going to be fine, you big baby," she said at normal volume.

He flinched away. "I am not a baby!"

She used her folded arms as a pillow and smiled across at him. "And that was a pretty sick trick."

He grinned instantly. He kissed the tip of her nose before sitting up stiffly. He dusted down his shirt and slowly got to his feet before helping her up. He twisted his arm, trying to look at the wound on his elbow, while she retrieved his skateboard from the other end of the parking lot. By the time she got back he was all confidence and swagger.

"See, skateboarding's a dangerous sport," he told her as he draped his uninjured arm over her shoulders. "I risk my life everytime I get on the board."

"Oh, I have an entirely new appreciation for it," she said honestly. She started leading him slowly towards her apartment. "Now come on, we need to wash your elbow. There's a first aid kit in my room."

"Why do you have a first aid kit in your room?"

"It never hurts to be prepared, Percy."

"Hurts to be prepared, haha, good first aid pun."

She grunted and shifted his arm a little higher on her shoulders. She hadn't even meant that, but she really was starting to sound way too much like Percy.

He was silent long enough for her to get worried. She glanced up at him and saw that he was smiling down at her, soft and content. Her own expression mimicked his instinctively, like his happiness was all she needed to be happy herself.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just… You're pretty amazing, Annabeth," he said softly.

A comfortable warmth filled every fibre of her being. She swung the board at her side and ducked her head, smiling. "Yeah, I know. You're not too bad yourself."

He reached around her, and she thought he was going to envelop her in a hug - but instead he grabbed the skateboard. Before she could get it back he dropped it and sat on it.

She gaped down at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm injured, there's no way I can walk back to your dorm."

"You're kidding me. It's right there."

"Too far."

"It's literally right there."

He stared up at her with those huge puppy-dog eyes, and her resolve melted. This boy was going to be the end of her, she just knew it.

"Oh, all right," she said with the most dramatic sigh she could muster. "Turn around."

"Yay!" Percy clapped his hands as he spun around on the board. He sat with his back to her, legs crossed and hands gripping the underside of the skateboard tightly.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and pushed him along, very grateful that he couldn't see how wide her smile was. If he saw that she was actually enjoying this he'd probably make her do it all the time, and that just couldn't happen.

"You're lucky I'm so skilled at handling skateboards," she said as they neared her dorm.

He didn't have to turn around for her to know that he was grinning from ear to ear. "I know."