Annabeth was snuggled up in her favourite armchair by the fireplace. A blanket on her knees and her kindle in her lap. In her hands she tightly clasped a mug of hot chocolate and marshmallows. The sound of the wind could be heard rattling against her window. She didn't realize when she fell asleep between the heat of the fire and the comforting words of J.K. Rowling.

THUD!

She woke with a jerk, just saving herself from spilling her drink all over herself. Outside the door, she could hear a man cursing. She stood up, wondering who it could be. There were no men on her floor, just Mrs. Smith across the hall and Mrs. Hudson next door. The fourth apartment had been empty since she moved in, two years this spring. She squinted through the peep hole into the dim corridor, trying to see who caused the noise. She saw a figure, sitting on the floor, surrounded by boxes. Annabeth opened the door and rushed to see if he was hurt.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!"

Percy wasn't having the best of days. Firstly, the moving company canceled on him, so he had to do the packing and shifting all by himself. His only friend who lived close enough to call was out of town, although he had luckily given the spare keys of his Range Rover to Percy, so he atleast didn't have to carry his boxes on the subway. But even with the SUV, it's not easy to manage rush hour traffic in a blizzard. And to top everything off, he dropped a box, full of books nonetheless (which he was never gonna read anyway) onto his foot.

He immediately sat down and started to massage his foot. He heard a door open behind him and turned to see a slender figure rushing towards him.

Annabeth knelt down next to the stranger and saw him holding his foot. She quickly babbled, "oh my God are you hurt? Did you drop something? You must have dropped a box. Oh dear. Should I get some ice? Wait I'll get some ice…" Annabeth stood up and for the first time met his eyes.

Both Percy and Annabeth looked at each other for what felt like all of eternity. Annabeth suddenly blinked, pulling herself out of the trance, confused, turned and ran back into her apartment, muttering to herself ,"yeah..err…ice..err.."

Percy's mind was blank. An extremely beautiful woman, about his age, said a lot of words, none of which he comprehended, but all of which sounded like a flowing stream to his ears. Even though the corridor was dimly lit, he knew she had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. They were so deep; he thought he'll get lost in them. And her hair! It might have been messy for someone else, but they seemed perfect golden locks to him. Curling around her chin and neck and shoulders like a mane.

Only one thought passed through his head. She was beautiful.

Annabeth closed the door behind her and rested her back against it. The guy, the stranger, he was goddamn handsome. His eyes, green as the sea. And his hair, black as the night sky. And his eyes, and his hair….

She shook her head trying to get the thoughts out of her head. Don't be childish Annabeth, she chided herself. Standing straight, she headed towards the kitchen to get the ice pack.

But holy cow, he was cute!

Annabeth picked up the ice pack and went back outside, Percy had removed his worn down sneaker (who wears converse in two feet of snow?) and was examining his foot. She passed him the ice, making sure to avoid his eyes. Percy took the ice pack and mumbled a thanks.

"So, err…, hi, I'm Annabeth. I live across the hall. I suppose you're moving into 5C?"

Percy just stared at her for a moment before replying,

"Yeah, yeah umm.. yeah hi! I-I'm Percy. Percy Jackson. And err, yeah, umm 5C…"

"Percy. Cool. So umm, you're from around here?" she continued.

"Yepp. New Yorker since forever. How about you?"

"Moved here from San Francisco a couple o' years back. I've always wanted to live in New York though. The city of dreams…" she trailed off.

"That's nice…"

"Umm, you want any help?" asked Annabeth.

Percy looked like he would kiss her.

The next two hours consisted of carrying boxes, arranging Percy's stuff, and generally laughing their asses off. Before she knew it, Annabeth's tummy rumbled, causing her to turn as red as a tomato and look at the clock on the kitchen wall.

"Someone seems to be hungry", Percy smirked. "I suppose we could go catch a bite to eat before any monster trucks come crashing through…"

"Shut up!" interrupted Annabeth, throwing one of Percy's many blue cushions at him (like, who needs 8 cushions on the same sofa?). She continued, "There's a really good Italian place about a block away, Mamma Mia, and they have like the best pizza ever!"

"Well where there's pizza, there's Percy."

It was nearly midnight as Annabeth peeled back the covers of her bed and slipped into her silk pajamas. She reflected on the past evening. Without a doubt, one of the best evenings Annabeth had ever had. The way Percy made her so comfortable, the way he made her laugh. They had talked all the way to the restaurant, at the restaurant, and all the way back, like they knew each other since Adam, or Chaos. It was the first time she had opened up so quickly to someone. She had told him about her family, how she wasn't on the best term with either her mother or step-mother, how over the years even her father and her relationship had become strained. She told him about her dreams. How she studied like a mad person to get into college and then worked even harder to get the job she wanted in New York. How she moved 3000 miles across the country and how her boss was an asshole. She hadn't told anyone so much about herself in ages. And especially not when she just met them. She remembered how he snorted into his diet Coke when she made him laugh, and the way he ran his hair through his already messy hair. And how his eyes shone when he talked about his mom and his friends.

Annabeth slowly smiled as she fell asleep…

Percy waited till Annabeth closed her door before he did the same. He kicked off his shoes and fell onto the sofa. Turning on the TV, he switched to Animal Planet. But today, his mind wasn't concentrating on how the gorillas lived in Chicago Zoo. He was thinking about Annabeth. Annabeth-Fucking-Sexy-Chase.

It must've been the first time in his life that he wasn't paying attention to the food. Instead, he was drinking in every word she said. He remembered her hair (damn, her hair!), shining in the light, her eyes (which were steel-grey), which changed colour as she talked passionately, and her lips (holy fuck, her lips!). he wanted to kiss those lips.

A small smile spread on Percy's face, as sleep enveloped him…