Alright, so. there is going to be a super important AN at the end of this and if you could read it, that would be great. ty ty. happy birthday leigh ! (also this has been my first percabeth fic, since like, march, so hopefully you people like it)

Words w/out AN: 12500+

Pairing(s): Percabeth, and like, a slight amount of Jasper

I am not Rick, so I own nothing.

the thief that stole his heart (and also his wallet)

Percy has lived in New York his entire life. He knows the ins, outs, and everything in between. He knows which shortcuts to take to cut down the length of his route, whether he's on foot or driving. He knows how to find the closest coffee shop from anywhere in the city (although, admittedly, that wasn't too hard since there was usually a coffee shop on every corner.) And he knows what to do to avoid trouble.

That's one of the first things you learn when walking on the streets of New York, especially at night.

If you want to be safe in New York, Percy suggests not walking around at night, in general. You never know what kind of people are out there. But if Percy does ever find himself walking somewhere at night, he keeps a fast, steady pace and avoids eye contact with everyone. Even if it's some old lady trying to cross the street.

Percy doesn't know her. She doesn't know Percy.

It makes Percy cringe inside, because that's just not who he is. Percy loves helping people. He likes to think he's great at it. But sometimes you need to help yourself before helping others. And if helping yourself meant making sure you didn't get mugged, then Percy would very much like to help himself.

That doesn't mean he doesn't help other people. If he has a spare moment and a neighbour of his needs help bringing something up the stairs of the apartment building, like groceries or something, then he'll be glad to do it.

Even if he is silently cursing to himself every other step because really? The elevator still isn't working?

Anyway, the point is, mind your business. Especially at night.

Then there's the usual don't go in any dark alleyways, don't enter the creepy man's van, etc etc. Those are the basic rules of staying safe.

At least, Percy thought he knew what he needed to do to keep safe. After all, those were the rules his mom ingrained in him at a young age. But even Percy makes the mistake of helping the wrong grandma at the wrong time.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

It's late and Percy just wants to sleep. He wants to go home to his cozy apartment and crash onto his bed, or maybe even the couch, whichever comes first. Percy just finished working on an important business project at his law firm. It's taken up the past two weeks of his life, filling the shallows of his thoughts and the corners of his vision. He was working on the project so much he had started dreaming about it.

Dreaming. About. It.

And usually, finishing a project of this magnitude is a cause for celebration, but Percy's mind is so exhausted that he knew if he mixed it with alcohol, he would slip into a coma and never wake up again.

Or maybe he'd just have a really bad hangover.

So he declined Jason and Leo's invitation to go out to the closest bar after work, instead choosing as much sleep as possible.

He checks his watch as he walks down the sidewalk, stopping underneath a street lamp to properly read the watch face.

12:34 am.

This was by far the latest he's stayed out working. Usually, he's able to sneak out of the office by 9:00 pm, but Percy decided to stay late to finally get this project finished with.

As Percy stands beneath the light he takes a moment to look around. He's maybe five or six minutes from his house. The street he's on appears to be empty.

Percy sighs. Only a few more minutes until he can feel the comforting embrace of his bed. He continues on, turning the corner…

...and almost completely runs into an elderly woman.

Percy jumps to the side, barely avoiding crashing into her, which would send them both tumbling.

Percy stands up straight, looking back at the person hunched over in the middle of the sidewalk.

Percy tilts his head and squints at the grandma. She is perfectly positioned so that someone turning the corner might bump into her.

He inspects her, noting her overly floral dress, walker and glasses chain hanging from her neck. If someone had said the word grandma to him, this is exactly what he would picture.

The lady's back is turned to him, as if she hadn't noticed Percy had almost run into her. She's illuminated by a set of streetlights.

Percy's adrenaline levels and heart rate start to drop, now that he realizes that no one is hurt or anything.

"Uhh," Percy starts to say. He looks around finding no one else in the street. "Are you out here alone?"

The elderly woman slowly turns toward him, dragging her walker with her.

"Oh deary me!" A shrill voice calls out. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… Are you here by yourself?" Percy repeats. Someone like her shouldn't be roaming the streets alone.

Percy feels something bad rising in his stomach, but he pushes it back down, choosing to ignore it instead. It's probably just the adrenaline, he reasons.

He steps closer to the lady, trying to get a better look at her. She reminds Percy of the grandmother from Little Red Riding Hood. A scarf is pulled over her head, like a hood. She's wearing thin leather gloves and knee-high socks.

It's early autumn, but Percy doesn't think it's cold enough for a scarf and gloves yet. He's dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, himself.

Percy opens his mouth to speak but feels a hand on his lower back. He whips his head to his side, where a different lady is now beside him.

"I'm so sorry!" The girl beside him says. "I saw you almost fall. This is my grandmother."

"Uhhhh…" Percy eloquently says.

The girl in front of him is pretty. She's shorter than him, with blonde curls falling down her shoulders, like a princess. She has nice, tanned skin that was glowing a golden colour from the street lamp in front of them. She smiles and a set of white teeth beam at him.

Percy likes her eyes, though. They were a unique grey colour that he hasn't seen before.

"I like your eyes…" He mumbles, her arm still on his lower back.

The girl in front of him tilts her head. "Thank you." She says sincerely. "I am so sorry if you almost got hurt because of my grandma. We were just walking home."

"I'm incredibly sorry, deary." The shrill voice of the grandma says.

"Uh, yeah… No problem." Percy says, turning to the elderly lady. "I didn't get your name." He asks the girl beside him.

Her arm seems to be creeping lower and lower, but Percy doesn't say anything. He's fixated on her eyes instead.

"I'm Anna...belle. I'm Annabelle. And this is Gloria."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Gloria. You too, Annabelle." Percy greets.

He lightly feels a hand brush even lower now. Definitely below his lower back. Percy blushes and looks at Annabelle, who just radiates a smile in return.

Percy takes a step back. "Well, I should get going…You two be careful."

She maintains eye contact with him as she says, "We will." Gloria waves goodbye to him.

Percy turns around and makes his way to his apartment. That was definitely weird.

He makes it to his front door and pulls his keys out of his front pocket, turning them in the lock and entering the familiarity that is his home.

He walks over to his room and slides his phone out of his other front pocket, tossing both his keys and the phone onto his night table.

He goes to toss his wallet on the table, too, but he pats his back pocket and doesn't feel the familiar protrusion.

He pats his other pocket, searching for his wallet. He moves onto his front pockets when he can't find it.

He knows it's somewhere. After all, he remembers using it to pay for lunch at work.

Work.

He must've just left it in his office. He was so busy working, it wouldn't surprise him if he just happened to leave it.

He collapses onto his bed and drifts to sleep. Hoping his wallet is at work.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

His wallet was not at work. He tears his office to pieces searching for it. He digs through the lost and found and doesn't find it. (Although he finds a working phone charger which is pretty cool.)

He figures he should probably start taking this seriously now, since his wallet is nowhere in sight and it had all of his credit cards and stuff. Luckily there isn't any cash in there, Percy mainly uses his debit card to purchase stuff. Although there was a $25 gift card for Starbucks that he really wanted to use.

He doesn't want to give up on his wallet but he likes to think he's a logical thinker. If he hasn't found his wallet yet, someone has.

He should probably call his bank and tell them to cancel his cards. He gives one final sweep through his office before he reluctantly calls the bank, telling them the bad news.

Luckily, they are very understanding, they cancel everything as quickly as possible and ask him about his recent purchases to make sure they were him.

Yes, he did buy fourteen pool noodles. No, he does not have a pool.

He finishes his call and is told that he can pick up the replacement cards at the bank. At least there's some good news.

Percy sighs and sits on the edge of his desk.

He hears a knock on his office door. It swings open and is greeted by Leo.

"Hey Perce…" Leo looks around his office bewildered. "Uhh, was there a tornado warning I didn't hear about?"

"I lost my wallet."

"Did you find it?"

"No." Percy reluctantly says. "The only place it could be is here, but I couldn't find it."

"That is truly unfortunate." Leo nods. He seems to get over it pretty quickly, though. "You wanna get lunch?"

"With what money?" Percy complains.

"Dude, relax." Leo says, waving his hands in surrender. "I'll pay for you this time."

"I just lost my wallet, man. It's not at home. It's nowhere here. It's such an inconvenience." Percy complains.

"It's just a wallet, man. You can get that stuff replaced." Leo comforts, taking a seat beside Percy on the desk and resting a hand on his shoulder.

"There was a photo of me and my mom in there. I think there's probably a copy of it somewhere, but it's weird to think that something I've been carrying with me for so long is gone."

Leo nods in understanding and stands up, kicking aside a box full of papers.

Percy frowns and Leo shrugs at him. "What, did I make even more of a mess?"

"I mean technically no."

"Then you'll be fine." Leo dismisses. "C'mon. Let's go. Jason's meeting us in the lobby."

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Percy and Leo exit the elevator. They spot Jason leaning against the corner of a wall. He waves when he spots them.

"Why does he look all depressed?" Jason asks, pointing at Percy.

"He lost his wallet."

"Oh." Jason nods. "I remember when I lost my wallet, last year."

Percy raises his eyebrows, silently asking him to say more.

"It sucked so much." Jason went on and Percy's face fell. "I had to cancel all my cards-"

"Just did that."

"I had to wait in line for literally hours to get a copy of my driver's license."

"I still have to do that." Percy sighs. "I'm probably gonna need to go to the DMV sometime this weekend."

"Well, I can go with you, if you want?" Jason offers.

"Really? You'd wait in line with me?"

"What? Oh god no. I'd just drive you there." Jason amends.

"It's not like you can drive yourself." Leo butts in.

"Wow. You're funny." Percy deadpans.

"Well, I try."

"It's not that big of a deal, Percy." Jason says. "Everybody makes mistakes sometimes."

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine." Percy says. "So, what are you guys buying me for lunch?"

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

They choose to go to Starbucks, mainly because Percy needs a frappucino to relieve the stress he feels from today.

They order and receive their drinks fairly quickly, except for Jason, who was still waiting for a banana bread or a muffin, or something.

Percy doesn't feel like eating right now, while all Leo needs is the most caffeine possible.

Percy is taking slow sips, savouring the taste. He sees Leo gulping down his Iced Caffe Mocha. He's already halfway done and Jason hasn't even received his food yet.

Percy's eyes wander the shop. It's filled with businessmen and women, either on their phones or talking to each other. He notices Jason coming over to them, a small paper bag in his hand.

"I see you finally got your food."

"It only took, like, thirty minutes." Leo comments.

"I worry about you." Percy says to Leo, noting how there's only a quarter of his drink left. "He was waiting for like, two minutes tops. Do we need to have a talk about addiction?"

"We're here for you, man." Jason adds in.

"I'm not addicted. I can stop whenever I want."

"Your natural energy mixed with the largest drink this place offers is like mixing Coke and Mentos."

"What do you mean?" Leo asks. "If anything this much caffeine calms me down."

Percy looks at Jason, who shrugs. "You are currently bouncing up and down in your chair."

His bouncing immediately stops, replaced with finger taps on the table. "Maybe I was just excited to have lunch with my best friends."

"You have lunch with us everyday, though." Jason counters.

"That doesn't mean I can't still be excited for it." Leo downs the rest of his drink. "There, I'm done."

Percy looks at his watch to see how long they've been in the Starbucks. About three minutes. "You finished that drink in three minutes, dude. I'm slightly impressed, but also slightly worried."

"Relax guys, I'm fiiiiiiiine." He draws out the last word.

Percy, having taken a total of four sips from his drink, looks around the shop again.

He sees...Annabelle? He focuses on the lady's face and sure enough. It's Annabelle from last nights, sans grandma.

She seems to be heading towards the exit, a tray of drinks in her hand.

"Annabelle?" He calls out, when she's almost beside his table.

She turns her head towards the noise and momentarily gasps. She quickly changes her expression to shocked, then to a somewhat forced smile. "Oh, hey. Percy, right?"

"Yeah." Percy says, not too disappointed she didn't recognize him at first. "How's your grandma?"

"Oh, she's fine." Annabelle said, taking small footsteps towards the door.

"That's good."

"Hey, it was, uh...nice to see you again, but I really gotta go."

"Don't let me stop you then." Percy smiles at her.

She nods her head before practically sprinting out of the door.

"Who was that?" Leo asks once the door closed behind her.

"That was Annabelle." Percy answers. "I met her last night when I was walking home. I almost ran into her grandma on the sidewalk."

Jason squints at him. "She was acting really suspicious."

"Yeah." Leo agrees. "Did you notice how she tried to leave as fast as possible?"

"She said she was in a hurry."

"Yeah." Jason interrupts. "But did you notice how shocked she looked when she first saw you?"

"Well, yeah. I guess."

"How'd you say you met her, again?"

"I was walking home at like, 12:00 am. And I almost ran into her grandma in the sidewalk. I asked if the grandma was alright and Annabeth appeared behind me and said Gloria, that's her name by the way, and her were walking home."

"So, there's a random grandma chilling alone, in the middle of the sidewalk." Jason says. "And you didn't see anything weird about that?"

"Well, she was with Annabelle."

"The grandma was clearly a distraction." Leo says to Jason, who nods.

"Did any more weird things happen that night?"

"Well, I lost my wallet." Percy comments. "And what do you mean a distraction?"

Leo shakes his head, ignoring his question. "Yeah, before that, though. Mainly during your conversation with Annabelle and, Gloria? Did you say Gloria?"

Percy nods, taking a moment to think, and blushing when he realizes. "Well, when we were leaving. I was saying goodbye, and Annabelle's hand was on my back. But it, uh, kept getting lower and lower."

Jason nods and looks to Leo. "She definitely wasn't copping a feel."

Leo agrees and turns to Percy. "I knew someone as pretty as her couldn't be your friend."

"Uh, thanks?" Percy says, extremely confused about what is happening right now.

"Just to make sure, did she grab right cheek, or left cheek?" Jason asks.

"Uh, right cheek? Also, how is that relevant?"

"He always keeps his wallet in his back right pocket." Leo murmurs to Jason.

"Excuse me. What is happening right now?" Percy asks, interrupting their aside.

"Good news, my friend!" Leo says. "My poor, idiotic friend. You got mugged!"

"Actually, I think getting mugged has to involve force and threats and stuff like that." Jason corrects.

"And that's why I'm a real estate lawyer." Leo says.

"I still have no idea what's going on. When did I get mugged?"

"Around twelve last night."

"And technically, you were pickpocketed, not mugged."

Percy connects the dots and frowns. "Are you telling me Annabelle pickpocketed me?"

"I'm almost positive Annabelle isn't her real name."

"But she was with her grandma. She seems so nice?"

"Think about it Perce. The grandma distracted you, while the pretty blonde came up and robbed you blind."

"At least you didn't lose your wallet." Leo consoles. "It was just forcibly taken from you."

"Actually, if it was forcibly taken from him, I'm pretty sure that counts as a mugging."

Percy sighs and lets his head fall onto the table.

"Hey, don't feel bad man." Leo awkwardly pats his head. "We all get taken advantage of by pretty women and grandmothers?"

"We can go after her, if you want?" Jason suggests, although New York is a big place and they wasted most of their time talking. She could be anywhere by now. And if she was smart, Percy assumes she'll be nowhere close to here.

Percy pulls his head up and reluctantly sighs in acceptance. "You live and you learn, I guess."

"That's the spirit!" Leo says. "And really, what did you lose? Other than like, a childhood photo of you and your mom."

Jason glares at Leo, as if what he said wasn't helpful at all. (It wasn't, by the way.)

Percy laughs. "I guess not much, since I'm sure there are copies of the photo somewhere. And If I really need another one, I can just go and take another one with my mom."

"Exactly!" Leo agrees. "That's the attitude you should have towards a mugging."

"Technically a pickpocket."

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Percy's walking to the closest grocery store. He doesn't have work today and decides to get some grocery shopping done.

It's been maybe, a week? Since he last saw Annabelle, or whatever her real name is, at Starbucks with Jason and Leo. His life is pretty much the same. Nothing dramatic has happened since then. His bank accounts weren't cleared, no new credit cards were opened in his name, or any of the other things extensive google searching told him might happen.

His bank has been very responsive with him, replacing his cards and whatnot. He was able to go in and pick them up the day after he went to Starbucks, so it's not like he was without money for long.

The longest, most annoying part of replacing the stuff from his wallet was by far his driver's license. Jason wasn't kidding when he said it sucked. He also wasn't kidding when he said all he would do was drop him off.

Percy had entered the DMV optimistic, maybe his chipper attitude would speed the lines along but when he opened the doors, everyone looked dead inside.

As the first hour passed, there was still a smile on his face. Small, sure, but hopeful. But then time went on and on. And it seemed like he had made negative progress in terms of the length of the line.

His small and hopeful smile faded into no smile at all. It never became a frown, but it took a long time (a good night's sleep) for the smile to return again.

And by the third hour his face had morphed into the dead inside expression that everyone else was wearing. He watched as newcomers entered the building and he watched as their faces quickly fell at the sight of the line.

Everything after that was a blur, or missing from his memory completely. Percy figures that going to the DMV was such a traumatic event that his brain has repressed anything after hour three.

The DMV was truly a terrible place.

But that dark, dark stage of his life is over now, and all he needs is to get some more ice cream and snacks from the grocery store.

At least he'll get his new license shipped to him in 2-4 weeks.

He tries not to think about Annabelle. But he sees things that remind him of her. He passes the side street where he was pickpocketed, he sees an elderly lady crossing the street with her husband. He sees a familiar flash of blonde curls

Really, everywhere he looks there's something that reminds him about...Wait.

Percy looks around for the blonde hair that he just saw. He sees it just turning a corner and makes a split-second decision.

Against his better judgement, he decides to follow it.

He picks up his pace and turns the corner.

This street wasn't as packed as the one he was just on, but there was still a few people on it. He couldn't find the blonde curls that look just like Annabelle's and his face falls.

Maybe he was just imagining it? Or maybe (more likely) it's possible for more than one person in the city of New York to have blonde hair.

He takes a couple of steps forward, wondering at what point he should turn back to continue to the grocery story, when he sees the shine of a walker.

An elderly lady with knee-high socks, a scarf around her face and leather gloves is slowly hobbling away. She isn't too difficult to track since her overly floral dress is like a large neon sign.

"Gloria…" Percy mutters to himself and chases after her.

She isn't hard to catch up to, since she doesn't notice Percy chasing her. He steps up behind her and slams a hand down on her walker, preventing her from lifting it up and continue walking.

"Deary me!" The shrill voice says. "Excuse me, young fellow, but you seem to have your hand on my walker."

"Cut the shit, Gloria." Percy says, lowering his tone so the few people around him don't hear him harassing an elderly lady. "Where's Annabelle?"

"Shit." Gloria mutters. Her voice going from shrill and deafening to a lower, more manageable tone. She pulls up her shirt a bit and says, "I've been made."

Percy figures she's probably speaking into a microphone or something. In a few moments, he's surrounded. Annabelle and a girl he hasn't seen before appear on his right.

He stuffs his hands in his pockets, holding onto his phone and wallet to make sure none of them going missing.

"Percy?" Annabelle asks.

"Annabelle." Percy glares. "If that's even your real name."

"It's not." She dismisses. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for you. I know you stole my wallet."

"Shit." Mutters the girl that Percy hasn't seen before. "What do we do, run?"

"I can't run in this costume." Gloria says behind him.

Percy whips his head towards Gloria, incredulous. "That's a costume?"

"He's seen our faces and could report us to the police." Annabelle says.

"You're telling me that's a grandma costume?" Percy asks, attention still on Gloria beside him.

"We could like, kill him?"

"Don't be so dramatic."

"Is this even a real grandma?"

"Oh my god, Percy." Annabelle exclaims. "Quit worrying about the grandma!"

"I'll worry about whatever I want to worry about." Percy snaps and Annabelle recoils. "I had to wait at the DMV for four freaking hours. Do you know how much of a pain it is to replace your driver's license? Because I do. It is not fun."

"Why didn't you just do it online?" The girl whose name he doesn't know, pipes in.

"Why didn't I just...What?"

"You can just fill out a form online to get it replaced."

"I can?"

"Yes. You can."

He wasted four hours in the hell that is the DMV when he could've just replaced it online?

"It takes like, thirty minutes, tops."

Percy clenches his hand to avoid doing anything stupid, like going to the DMV and tearing down the stupid building brick by brick.

Percy slowly exhales, calming down. "Alright then. You live and you learn. I'll make sure to do that next time I get robbed."

"So, are you going to report us to the police…Or?" Gloria says behind him.

Percy thinks about it. "What are your names?" He asks instead.

"Oh, I'm Piper." The girl he hasn't seen before says.

"Piper!" Gloria exclaims. "Don't give him your real name."

"Oh, right." Piper says.

Percy turns to Gloria. "So are you a real grandma? Because you look pretty old."

"I'm 25, jackass. I'm younger than you."

"Barely younger than me." Percy says. "I don't know though, what's your birthday?"

"December 22nd-"

"Thalia!" Annabelle interrupts.

Thalia?

"Quit giving him more information."

"I think it's fine." Piper says. "I don't think he'll call the police."

"But what if he does?"

"Excuse me," Piper asks. "What do you do for work?"

"I'm a lawyer." Percy answers.

"Oh shit. He's totally gonna call the cops. And then he's gonna prosecute us himself and we're gonna go to jail for a million years." Piper spirals.

"Is it still too late to murder him?"

"We could, like, knock him out and run."

Percy's eyes go wide at the sound of potential bodily injury. "I'm a divorce lawyer. And I'm not gonna report you or anything. I don't care about the wallet, anymore. I messed up and made a mistake by trying to see if Thalia, over here, needed any help."

"Oh." Annabelle says, surprised. "Good. We should probably get going, then."

They start to walk away, but Percy says. "Wait!"

They all turn to look at him.

"There was a photo of me and my mom in my wallet. You wouldn't happen to have it still? It's pretty important to me."

Piper and Thalia frown, while Annabelle just fidgets with a bracelet she's wearing. Annabelle turns to her friends and motions for them to keep walking.

She takes a step closer to Percy. "Look. You actually seem like a pretty decent guy."

"Uhh, thanks?"

"But we don't usually keep any of the stuff we steal."

"Oh." Percy's face falls.

They're silent for a moment.

"I can check, to see if we have it." Annabelle offers, "Maybe give it to you if we see each other again. But I doubt we have it."

Percy nods, understanding that he's probably never going to see the photo again. He tries not to let the hurt be so evident on his face. And suddenly, he's not in the mood for ice cream and snacks anymore.

Annabelle reaches out and squeezes his arm. "Annabeth."

"You wanted to know our names." She says. "You already learned Piper and Thalia. I'm Annabeth."

Annabeth.

Percy nods. "Well, it was nice meeting you then, Annabeth."

Percy watches as she turns around and walks away.

Now she's on his mind more often than when she stole his wallet.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Percy decides to go drinking with Jason and Leo.

They offered, when he told them about meeting Annabeth and her friends.

"I'm sorry about the photo, Perce." They console.

"It's no big deal, right? I can always get a replacement."

"Why haven't you reported them to the police?"

Percy thinks for a moment. Why didn't he report them to the police? He knew all of their names. He could describe them pretty vividly…

"I don't know. I don't really think I need to...If that makes sense." Percy answers.

They nod, although Percy can't really tell if they agree with what he did.

"So, where are we going to go? There's the place around the corner?" Percy suggests.

"I think we should treat ourselves."

"So, the one closer to downtown, then?"

Leo nods. "Exactly."

"Sounds good to me."

"Is someone gonna be our designated driver?"

"We can just take a cab home." Jason says.

"Well, the bar's like, three feet from my house. I can just walk home."

"Try not to get pickpocket on the way home." Leo jokes.

"Dude, not cool." Jason shakes his head.

"Oh, c'mon. You know it was a joke, right?"

Percy smiles and shakes his head. "Yes. I know it was a joke."

"See, he's fine."

"So, are we leaving, or what?"

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

They're at the bar in thirty minutes.

It was only a twelve minute walk but Leo insisted on going back home to change in case there were any ladies there.

His words, not Percy's.

Although Percy figures if one of them is going home to change, they all might as well. The bar is only a couple minutes from his apartment, so it's not like it's a big deal for him.

They meet up at the entrance of the bar, and enter.

It isn't too packed tonight, although Percy doesn't really drink that often, so he isn't sure if this is their packed, or if they're just having an off-day.

There's still a few groups of people spread around the room, though. And a couple more sitting at the bar.

Percy glances to the tv, playing a rerun of the recent football game, and listens to the radio, some pre-2000s pop song.

They find themselves an open table and sit down.

Leo bounces off, taking their drink orders as he heads over to the bar section.

"This is the celebration we should've had for finishing that assignment." Jason says.

"Yeah. I thought it was never going to end. I thought we'd be working on it until we were fifty, or something."

"That's not too far away for you, then." Jason smirks.

"Oh, haha. Very funny." Percy mutters. "Why does everyone make fun of my age? I'm only 26!"

"Turning 27, though."

"I'm still 26, though." Percy exclaims. "You're like, six months younger than me."

"Leo's got us both beat."

"Yeah, but he's almost 26, his birthday is in a month, I think." Jason tears his gaze from the tv screen, to behind Percy, where Leo is.

"Well, mine's in a couple weeks." Percy comments. "I hate surprise parties, just so you know."

Jason doesn't say anything. So, Percy continues on, "I'd prefer if we keep it lowkey, like last year's. Just hanging out with our friends and family, watching a movie or something in my apartment…"

"Hmm." Jason hums noncommittally.

Percy stops watching the football game, looking at Jason. "What are you looking at?"

Jason is raptly looking somewhere behind Percy, not focusing on anything Percy had just said.

Percy smacks Jason's arm. "Dude. What are you doing?"

"What?" Jason says, looking back to Percy. "Oh, there's this girl over there."

Percy smiles. "Then why are you talking to me? You could be talking to her."

"She's already talking to Leo." Jason pouts.

"Is she laughing at what he says?"

"No. She's giving him some drinks?"

Percy sighs. "Is she in front of the counter, or behind the counter?"

"Behind…"

"Then wouldn't it make sense if she was the bartender?"

Jason turns to Percy, hopeful. "Dude. That makes so much sense." He repeatedly smacks his hand against Percy's arm to get his attention. "You think that means I have a chance?"

"Stop smacking me. Yes, I think you have a chance."

Leo returns with the drinks in hand. "Dude, I have no idea why, but every other second the bartender keeps looking at our table."

Jason's eyes go wide as he looks at Percy, who rolls his eyes and turns to look at the girl that has Jason so excited.

Percy squints a bit. She looks a lot like Piper.

It's definitely Piper.

"I'm gonna go talk to her…" Percy mutters, standing up and letting his legs guide him in the direction of the bar.

"Dude, not fair." Jason calls out behind him. "Are you seriously gonna hit on her?"

Percy considers telling his friends that Piper helped steal his wallet, but knowing his friends, they'd probably do something dramatic. Like start a bar fight defending his honour, or something like that.

Percy stops and walks back to the table. "Bro, chill. I'm just gonna go casually see if she's into you."

He walks towards Piper. She hasn't spotted him yet, as she wipes down the countertop.

Percy takes a seat in front of her.

"What can I get you?" She automatically says, looking up. "Percy? What are you doing here?"

"Getting a drink." He cooly replies. "I didn't know you had an actual job."

She goes back to wiping the tables. Piper lowers her voice so people around can't hear. "We only do the other stuff when we really need to."

"Well, that's good to hear, I guess." Percy says. "Are Annabeth and Thalia in the bathroom, ready to rob anyone that goes in?"

She looks up at him incredulous, before glancing at the people around them. None of them seem to notice. "Keep your voice down. Others might hear."

"Chill, dude. It's just a joke."

"I think I saw Annabeth floating around here-"

"You did?" Percy interrupts her.

"But that was like an hour ago." She continues on.

"Oh. Okay."

"Y'know, it's funny."

"What is?"

"Annabeth would not shut up about you since we last saw you."

"She wouldn't?" Percy says, trying not to let his eyes reveal anything.

"No! Did you see his eyes when I said we threw out the photo? He was so sad! Like a lost puppy. I feel so bad. And on and on about how she feels bad for hurting you, or whatever."

"So she was comparing me to a dog?"

"I mean, yes, but technically no."

"Shouldn't people like you have like, no feelings at all. Or something like that?"

"People like us?" Piper glares, hands on her hips.

Percy gulps. "I mean, it's just…" He leans in closer to her and whispers, "You steal stuff."

"That doesn't mean we aren't human." Piper argues. "We're just in a bad place right now...And it's also kind of fun."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure it's real fun for whoever has to wear the grandma costume."

"Actually, we take turns wearing it."

"Oh, so it's a communal grandma costume. Even better."

"At least-" Piper starts before she's interrupted by a rather loud Jason clearing his throat.

Piper and Percy both turn their heads to look at Jason, who's just exaggeratedly wiggling his eyebrows at Percy.

"Who's your friend?" Piper asks.

"That's Jason. I think he has a crush on you."

"Well, if you just wanna send him over here...Or maybe you could just give me his number?"

"What so you can steal from him, too?"

Piper has the decency to look offended. "I wouldn't do that."

"Yeah, but how would I know you wouldn't do that. He's my best friend, I can't let him get hurt."

"Look, I told you, we're in a bad place right now. But that doesn't mean we steal from people left and right."

Percy looks at her for a long time, not saying anything. Percy wants to believe that she's being sincere, but that might just be the side of him that looks for the good in everybody.

"I swear. I'm trustworthy." Piper pleads. "I'll tell you my full name, or my address, or something, anything."

Percy mentally sighs. He really hopes he could trust her. "Fine. I believe you."

The smile that lights up her face seems so genuine that Percy can't help but believe her.

He raises his eyebrows and walks over to Jason.

"Alright so, her name is Piper."

Jason nods his head.

"She is definitely interested in you."

Jason nods his head faster.

"And she is one of the people that stole my wallet."

Jason's head stops, a frown appears on his face. "Uh, should we report her? Because, like, my small crush isn't that big of a deal, or anything."

"Yeah, she's like, a criminal, right?" Leo says.

"Technically yes, but me and her are cool with each other. I just wanted to make sure you knew, okay? You're a smart guy, so if anything seems fishy with her, I'm trusting you to put a stop to it."

"Okay? Yeah? Yeah, of course."

"Alright, good luck then."

Jason just sits there.

"I'm pretty sure that's your cue to go talk to the girl." Leo says.

"Oh, right." Jason scrambles up and rushes over to the bar.

"Look at that, our young Jason's in love." Leo coos. "With a criminal, too."

"She's actually not that bad."

"She seems nice." Leo agrees.

"Mmm." Percy says, potentially looking around the bar for a familiar blonde.

He doesn't find her, but keeps an eye open anyway, just in case.

Leo and him spend the rest of the night talking and watching Jason as he attempts to flirt with the bartender.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Jason ends up talking to Piper until her shift ends, which means Percy and Leo were stuck watching him until the bar closed.

"I give up man, those two are gonna be talking for the rest of the night and they won't even realize it." Leo complains.

"Dude, the bar closes in like, five minutes, you can leave now, and I'll drag Jason out of here, if it gets to that."

"I really gotta get to bed, early day tomorrow."

"Then leave." Percy shoos him out. "We'll be fine here."

"Alright, see ya." Leo waves as he walks out.

They drank a lot less than Percy thought they would. So, he feels comfortable letting Leo take the short walk back to his apartment alone.

Percy walks over to Jason and Piper. "You guys realize the bar closes in five minutes, right?"

"What?" Jason says looking at Percy.

"Yes, we know?" Piper says.

"Alright, just making sure you two kiddos are all good."

"Thanks mom."

"I'm gonna get going, see you at work tomorrow."

"See ya." Jason says.

Percy nods to Piper, who waves at him in return.

He smiles and walks out into the cool street. The sidewalk is empty, but the street is bustling.

The city that never sleeps, they call it.

"Hey! Get your hands off of me!" Percy faintly hears in the alleyway beside the bar.

He rushes over, to see what's happening and is shocked at what he sees.

Annabeth's smacking some guy who has her pinned against the wall.

This guy is grabbing her arm with some sort of death grip and is pushing her up against the wall.

Annabeth is screaming and shoving the guy as hard as she can, but to no avail.

"Hey!" Percy calls out, stepping forward, closer to them.

The guy turns and stands up straight, no longer hunched over Annabeth. His grip loosens and Annabeth takes it as an opportunity to rip her arm from his grasps.

She runs closer to Percy, who wisely takes a few steps back at the size of the man in front of him.

"Oh, wow. You're larger than I thought you were." He takes a couple steps back.

The man in front of them growls, literally growls, and steps forward.

"Percy…" Annabeth starts to say. "I think we should run."

"That is a great idea." He says, before taking off in the direction of his apartment. Annabeth following him.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

The usual three minute walk to his apartment takes just over a minute jogging. His legs automatically take him in the direction of his apartment and Annabeth still seems to be following him. They stop and catch their breath in the lobby.

Percy leans against the wall, panting while Annabeth sprawls herself on the lobby couch.

"I haven't run this much since high school gym class." Percy complains.

Annabeth groans in agreement. "Is he still chasing us?"

"I think he never started chasing us, to be honest."

"Oh, great. So I ran for nothing, then."

Percy looks over to Annabeth, who's sitting on the couch properly, rubbing her wrist where the guy grabbed her.

It's turning a shade of red that clashes with her tanned skin.

"Are you alright?" Percy asks, concerned.

"I think it's going to bruise." Annabeth replies.

"I have ice in my apartment?" Percy offers.

"That sounds really good, actually."

Percy leads her to the elevator, which was just recently repaired and waits for the doors to close before he speaks. "So we're headed to my apartment. Try not to like, rob me, or something."

"What? You think I'd rob your apartment?"

"Well, you already got the wallet."

"Oh my god. Are you still complaining about that?" Annabeth smiles, so he knows she's just joking, but Percy decides to go with it.

"Personally, I feel like it's a valid thing to complain about."

"Well, you're helping me. I'm not going to steal from someone who's helping me." Annabeth raises her hand and crosses her fingers over her heart. "Scout's honour." She assures him.

"Actually." The elevator dings open. "I"m pretty sure crossing your fingers while making a promise means that you plan on breaking the promise."

Annabeth quickly uncrosses her fingers and bashfully smiles.

"And really, you were in the scouts?" Percy sarcastically says. "You should have told me earlier how trustworthy you are!"

"I'll have you know, I actually am a very trustworthy person."

Percy pulls out the keys to his apartment and unlocks the door, gesturing for Annabeth to go in. "Right, right, right. And why did that guy have you pinned against the wall?"

Annabeth mumbles something, her face turning a deep shade of red.

"What's that? I can't hear you?" Percy holds a hand up to his ear expectantly. He's pretty sure he already knows why that guy was threatening her.

"He caught me stealing his wallet…" Annabeth admits.

Percy nods. "Ah, right. Of course." He opens a plastic Ziploc bag and fills it with ice from the freezer. "Very trustworthy."

Percy takes a seat beside her and hands her the bag of ice. Annabeth gratefully accepts it and rests the cool bag onto her wrist.

Percy leans back onto his couch and stares at Annabeth. Inviting her into his home, in hindsight, seems like a really stupid idea. After all, she has literally stolen from him.

But Percy chalks up his bad decision making to the nicer side of him. His vision tinted with red when he saw Annabeth in trouble, and the only thing his mind said was help.

And Piper vouches for her, although technically, he knows Piper less than he knows Annabeth. But Piper seems like a nice person, Jason seems to think so, too.

Annabeth moves a strand of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "Why are you staring at me like that?" She asks, her face turning red again.

She's beautiful, Percy thinks.

"I just want to make sure you're okay." He says instead, though.

Annabeth looks down and fidgets with the ice pack on her wrist.

"I really appreciate this, Percy." She says without looking up to him. "I appreciate you helping me in the alley, and inviting me into your home. When you really have no reason to."

"I think everyone deserves a second chance…"

Annabeth looks at him. Her eyes are raw. "I don't think I do. I mean...I've done some bad things."

"I talked with Piper." Percy says. "She seems like a good person. And she trusts you."

"And that means you should trust me?"

"We've all been through rough times. Also she said you've been non-stop talking about me."

"That snitch!" Annabeth says, wiping her eyes from the few tears that happened to break through.

Percy gives her a tissue. "She said you felt bad for me for not having my wallet anymore."

"Well, you just looked so sad…"

"I was." Percy nods. "But you felt bad for me, even though you were the one who took my wallet. Sure, maybe it was just guilt, but it showed me you care."

Annabeth doesn't say anything. She just looks at him.

Percy continues on. "Sure. I don't have any real reason to trust you. But that doesn't mean I can't find one. It doesn't mean I can't start to trust you."

"You're giving me a second chance, Percy. Even if I don't deserve it."

"Prove to me that you do deserve it, then."

Annabeth turns her body on the couch, so she's fully facing Percy. "And how could I do that?"

Percy thinks for a moment. "Tell me about yourself."

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"Have you ever been caught before? For, uh, stealing stuff?" Percy slowly asks, not sure how deep he can get with these questions.

He wants to get to know Annabeth, but he doesn't want to intrude and ask too many personal questions that she'll be scared away.

"Well, maybe fifteen minutes ago? Some gruff dude at the local bar caught me trying to snatch his wallet." She quips and smiles.

Percy laughs and watches as she slides a wallet out of her back pocket.

She spins it in her fingers and smirks. "I got the wallet, though."

Percy mock claps. "Congratulations on the feat of skill. But I meant before."

"Once, before." Annabeth whispers before going quiet.

The mood in the room sombers. Percy leans closer to listen better.

"It wasn't always just me, Piper and Thalia." Annabeth says. "A long time ago, before them...I had a partner in crime." She humorlessly laughs. "A friend. He's the one that taught me about this." Annabeth waves the wallet around.

"Before you were friends with Thalia and Piper, there was some guy that taught you how to...steal?"

Annabeth nods. "He was my friend. He's actually how I met Thalia. His name was Luke."

Percy could really feel the emotions that this Luke guy was eliciting from Annabeth.

"Hey…" Percy says, resting his hand on Annabeth's knee comfortingly. "You don't need to tell me this."

"I think I want to, though." She says to him. "I've just...I've n-never told anyone this story before, except Piper and Thalia."

Percy nods. Sometimes it was best to talk. To get things off your chest.

"So, Luke taught me everything I know." Annabeth continues on. "And me, him and Thalia worked together like a team. Kinda like now, with me, Thalia and Piper. We trusted each other, with everything. But things didn't work out for Luke, one day. He got caught during some sting and he...He ratted out me and Thalia for a reduced prison sentence."

"Did you and Thalia go to prison?" Percy asks.

"No, not really. We spent a couple nights in a jail cell, but Luke couldn't provide substantial evidence to connect us to anything. So, even though me and Thalia didn't get any prison time… The damage was done. Luke broke our t-trust. We left him. Went as far away as possible. And here we are."

"Wow." Percy says. "I can't believe he would stab you in the back like that."

Annabeth is hugging herself, curled up on his couch. He can see she's trying not to cry, but he hands her a couple more tissues.

"I've known Luke since high school. That's so long. That's the closest I've ever been to...getting caught."

To someone else… Percy thinks.

"No honour among thieves, I guess…" Percy smiles smally, trying for a lame joke to alleviate tension.

Luckily, it works. Annabeth smiles and smacks his arm. "Are you seriously making jokes, right now?"

Percy shrugs and holds his hands up, laughing. "It's probably the only time I get to use that line, though. I had to while I could!"

"If we become friends are you going to crack jokes about my thievery all the time?"

"Only when there's a good opportunity." Percy swears.

"If I hear anything about Ocean's Eight, I swear to god…"

"I haven't seen it, yet." Percy comments, but smiles wildly. "Could we watch it, then like, you say if all of the stuff they do in the movie is possible or not?" He asks excitedly.

"Percy! I'm not a professional criminal or something. I can just steal watches and wallets fairly decently."

"You can do watches, too?" Percy says, eyeing the watch on his wrist, as if it'll disappear.

Annabeth grabs Percy's hands and leans toward him. He quietly gasps and looks her in the eye. She's staring right back at him. His heartbeat quickens, and a blush rises up his neck from how close they are. Percy could lean forward just a bit, and their noses would be touching.

"Yes, Percy, I can steal watches, too." She whispers.

She pulls away and Percy releases a breath he didn't know he was holding.

They're still staring at each other. Annabeth's hand slowly rises up beside her face, his watch dangling from between her fingers.

"Wait, what?" He asks. He looks down at his wrist to find it missing a watch. He looks up to the watch in her hand, his watch in her hand. "Holy shit…"

Annabeth smiles and Percy snatches his watch back, slapping it back onto his wrist.

"That was awesome. Do it again?" Percy pleads.

"Fine." Annabeth says with a smile.

She rests her hand on Percy's and he intently watches as her fingers elegantly undo the strap, before sliding the watch off of his wrist.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have even noticed his watch was gone.

"That was so cool." Percy says, amazed. "I don't like stealing, or stuff like that, but you're really good at it…"

"Well, stealing has been my main source of income for a long time. After years of doing it, you get good."

"Do you have a job?" Percy asks. "Like a real one? Because I know Piper bartends, and I don't know about Thalia, but she might-"

"Percy." Annabeth interrupts. "You're rambling."

"Sorry." Percy shifts in his seat, still unsure of what questions she's comfortable with.

"I want to be an architect." She answers.

"Why don't you?"

"School's expensive…"

Annabeth looks down and they sit in silence. Percy doesn't press her. Annabeth fidgets with his watch in her hand, trying it on and taking it off again.

"Could you teach me?" Percy asks, refocusing on his watch in her hand.

"Percy Jackson, thief in training?" Annabeth laughs.

"No." He grumbles and crosses his arms. "It just looks like fun."

"Down, boy." Annabeth commands, smiling. "I'm just joking. I know a goody two shoes like you wouldn't stoop so low."

Percy frowns at her, but Annabeth keeps going.

"It's actually pretty easy." Annabeth says. She puts on Percy's watch and guides his hand to her wrist.

She demonstrates which fingers go where, positioning his fingers to the correct location.

Percy tries to effortlessly slide the watch off her wrist, but the watch gets caught and he ends up tugging her arm, instead.

She shows him how to do it once more. Pull the strap, let the buckle fall loose, then smoothly pull the watch off.

Percy sticks his tongue out in concentration. He successfully manages to get the watch off. "Holy shit. I'm amazing." He gloats.

"That actually wasn't bad." Annabeth notes. She gazes into his eyes. "But the secret to being able to steal watches is maintaining their focus."

Percy tilts his head, confused.

"It's one thing to steal a watch from someone who's letting you take it. It's a completely different thing to steal it from a random person. If you maintain eye contact and keep their focus, then they won't notice you go for their watch."

"Oh," Percy nods.

"If you're staring at their wrist the entire time, they'll eventually look down to their wrist and notice their watch is gone. But if you act natural and keep their focus, they won't even notice."

Percy nods again and smiles. "Well, aren't you a professional thief." He teases, poking her leg.

"I realised a long time ago that it's easy to keep a guy's attention if you have a pretty smile."

"Yeah…" Percy mutters, turning slightly red. "Or if you're just beautiful, in general."

Annabeth blushes. She mutters, "Thank you…"

After a moment, she grabs Percy's hand, dragging him off the couch so they're standing, facing each other.

"I can, uh, show you some wallet stuff?"

Percy nods, not trying to look too eager.

"Do you have your wallet on you?"

Percy shakes his head. "I left it over there." He waves his hand in the general direction of the kitchen.

"Well, we can use this wallet, then." She picks up the wallet that she took from that guy at the bar.

She slides it down Percy's back pocket, causing his heart to beat faster when her hand lingers.

"Again, it's all about keeping their focus." She says, making direct eye contact with him.

She pulls Percy close, wrapping her arms around his torso, letting them slowly slide lower and lower.

"This feels a little deja vu." Percy breathes out, remembering the night they had first met in the middle of the sidewalk.

Annabeth blushes, but covers it with a smirk. "Just keep their focus, as you…" She lightly rests her hand on his back pocket, before pulling away. "Snatch the wallet."

Percy watches her flip the wallet over in her hand. "That is so weird. And cool. I didn't even feel you pull the wallet out."

"You try." She says, sliding the wallet into her back pocket.

Percy's breath hitches as Annabeth steps impossibly close. She rests her hands on his chest, while Percy snakes his arms behind her. It's as if they're dancing without any music.

His heart's beating like crazy and he's positive Annabeth can feel it. His arms slowly go lower and lower, stopping just above her waist.

"Are you sure?" Percy asks her.

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure, idiot."

Percy gulps as his hand starts to graze her. His hands search for the outline of a wallet, but all he feels is smooth fabric, and, well, Annabeth.

Annabeth's still staring at him expectantly.

He applies more pressure, but doesn't find anything. He doesn't even feel the outline and seams of a pocket

"Do you even have pockets?" Percy asks, flustered.

"Nope." Annabeth smirks.

Percy's eyes go wide. "Wait, uh...Does t-that mean my hand are on your…?"

"Yes, Percy. Your hands are on my butt."

Percy nods. "O-Okay."

Percy doesn't move his frozen hands, but Annabeth doesn't seem to be moving away either.

She leans forward, closing her eyes and Percy only over thinks this for a moment or two before reciprocating.

Before he knows it, they're kissing. Feverishly kissing as Annabeth removes his sweater and Percy moves a hand up to her hair.

She tosses his sweater onto the floor in a crumpled ball. Percy slides his hand out of her hair, lifting her up and resting the both of them onto his couch, so she straddles him. Her hands snake their way up underneath Percy's shirt before removing it completely.

"Your hand is really cold." Percy mentions as she removes his shirt.

"Oh, do you want to stop and wait for my hand to warm up?" She snipes.

Percy quickly shakes his head, pressing his lips to hers.

Annabeth groans into the kiss. Percy moves his lips to her cheek, sliding down to her neck, just under her ear. He works that spot until he's sure a hickey will show up.

"Did you just mark me?" Annabeth purrs.

"Maybe…" Percy smiles coily, panting breathlessly.

Annabeth swiftly removes her own shirt and Percy takes a moment, because wow, Annabeth is beautiful.

He smashes his lips back to hers.

Annabeth whispers into his ear. "Bedroom. Now."

Percy happily obliges, carrying her to his room and slamming the door shut behind them.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Percy wakes up late the next morning. It's not like he works today, so it's fine.

He looks beside him, to find his bed empty, and disappointment flares through his chest. A tiny sliver of hope had wanted Annabeth to stay. So they could discuss whatever it is that's happening.

Percy figures her being gone right now is her response to the question he never asked.

Percy doesn't really do one-night stands. (Although, technically, he just did.)

But usually he would get to know someone, before any thoughts of sleeping with them enter his head. Although, everything about Annabeth is different than what he's used to. It isn't a surprise this would be, too.

Either way, that doesn't take away the hurt he feels in his chest from the rejection.

Percy groans and lays back down in his bed, debating whether or not he should just spend the entire day moping around, not getting anything productive done.

And as fun as that sounds, now seems like the perfect time for ice cream and snacks. If only he had gotten them when he first wanted to.

He reaches for his wallet that's usually on his night table, only to find it not there. He panics, not wanting to think the worst, but it manages to slip into his thoughts.

What if Annabeth was just getting into his pants for the money?

Percy shivers and shakes the thoughts out of his head. Annabeth is different, now. Something had definitely happened between them, as he helped her get away from that guy in the alley, as he helped her injured wrist.

But the fact that she left before he woke up doesn't really help much.

Luckily, Percy remembers his wallet was somewhere in the kitchen, and his watch was somewhere in the living room. So, he gets up to look for them.

Annabeth, indeed, had not stolen from him. He finds his watch laying face down on the couch and his wallet on the kitchen counter.

He habitually checks that none of his cards are missing and smiles when they aren't.

See, he tells himself. Annabeth can be trusted.

He looks back to his barren bedroom, kind of trusted.

Percy sighs and goes to make himself a cup of coffee.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

"Percy." Jason says, looking up from the stack of papers he has in front of him and eyeing his friend. "You look kinda down."

"Did someone steal your wallet, again?" Leo asks, his face half-full of food.

Percy doesn't say anything for a moment, but mutters, "Something more important than my wallet was stolen..."

They don't appear to hear him.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Every flash of blonde in the streets makes Percy's heartbeat. Every suspicious grandma in a flower dress makes him wired and tense.

Percy hates to admit it, (because who wants to admit they have a crush on a criminal?) But Percy wants to see Annabeth again. He'd do anything to see Annabeth again.

He's never said it out loud, or told any of his friends, but Percy has a crush on Annabeth.

And it sucks.

For so many different reasons it sucks.

He shouldn't like her. He can't like her. She's a criminal with commitment issues and he's a sucker who got his wallet stolen. But for some reason Percy stopped caring about the wallet and decided to care about the person who took it.

He thinks about her. All the time. Her face, her smile, her lips.

Percy feels like a high schooler again, going over every time he's talked to her, trying to remember her voice, trying to remember what she feels like.

Percy knew he shouldn't have fallen asleep that night. He should've stayed up, memorizing the feeling of holding her in his arms as she drifts to sleep.

But now she's gone. And all Percy has is a fading memory.

And maybe the worst part is that she left without saying a thing. Anything.

Percy doesn't even know if she feels the same towards him.

Obviously not, he thinks, or else she'd still be here.

Percy drifts to sleep at night with only one thing on his mind and nothing to show for it.

He tries hunting down Piper, too.

Casually dropping in for a drink, scanning the bartenders to see if she's working.

She never is.

But Percy knows she still works there. Jason says he's seen her there, fairly recently.

Percy actually thinks Piper's avoiding him. Like every time Percy's about to walk into the bar, she has an informant on the outside tell her he's coming so she can slip out a back door.

Percy also thinks Piper and Jason are secretly dating. Which means Jason has seen Piper more often than just at the bar.

But Jason hasn't admitted to it under harsh questioning from Percy, so whether or not Piper's avoiding him is still yet to be proven.

"Do you swear Piper still works at the bar?" Percy asks. "Do you bro-mise?"

"Bro-mise?" Jason asks, confused. "Like a bro promise?"

"Yes." Percy whines. "Exactly like a bro promise."

"Yes, dude. She still works there. I bro-mise"

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

The next time Percy sees anything related to Annabeth is purely by chance.

On a whim, Percy decides to tag along with Jason as he heads to the closest police station. Jason says that some new evidence was discovered in the case he's working on, so he needs to go check it out.

Afterwards, they're meeting up with Leo to get lunch.

"I can't bring anyone in to see the evidence that isn't officially involved in the case." Jason tells Percy. "So, you'll have to wait inside for a few minutes."

Percy shakes his head. "Okay, I'll just hang out with all the criminals."

"That's the spirit."

Percy holds open the door, waiting for Jason to step through. Percy walks through the door into the police station and…

Thalia?

Percy squints then shakes his head. Why does he always meet these people while randomly living his life? First, Piper in the bar, now, Thalia in the police station.

"So, I'm gonna go check out the new evidence, you're good to stay here?" Jason asks.

Percy doesn't even look in his direction. He just waves him off and starts walking towards Thalia.

She has her signature scowl on her face. A pair of handcuffs are around her wrists as she sits beside an officer's desk.

Percy looks at the officer and silently thanks whatever gods there are. The officer that arrested Thalia is Frank.

Percy's known Frank since high school. Occasionally, Percy, Jason, Frank and Leo meet up for drinks.

Frank is a fairly large guy. And that can make him kind of intimidating. It's probably what makes him so suited to be on the force. But Frank is basically a giant teddy bear, so when he sees Frank scowl at Thalia, it makes Percy laugh.

"Frank." Percy says, walking up to the desk.

Frank looks up and smiles. Thalia looks up and scowls.

"Percy!" Frank says. "It's been so long."

Frank pulls him into a crushing hug.

"It has." Percy agrees. "Jason's here, too. I'll make sure he stops by."

"That's great. How are you?"

"I'm fine." Percy says, staring at Thalia. "What do we have here?"

"I have her booked on theft." Frank says, motioning to the pile of paperwork he has on his desk.

"Interesting." Percy says, nodding.

"Yeah, apparently, this isn't her first time. She's got quite a few things on her record."

Percy nods again. "I hate to do this, Frank."

"What's up?"

"Do you think you could let whatever it is she did slide?" Percy pleads. "She's an... old friend."

Frank scrunches his eyebrow and Thalia's eyes go wide. "I don't know man...This isn't the first time she's done this kind of thing…"

"I know," Percy glares at Thalia. "But it would mean a lot to me. Like, you have no idea."

"Well…" Frank says, shifting his eyes to the stack of paperwork. "It was only a couple hundred dollars…"

Percy nods.

"And we managed to recover it all…"

Percy smiles now.

"And I really don't want to do that paperwork…"

Percy full-out grins. "Thanks, Frank. I really appreciate this."

Frank nods before turning to Thalia. "I better not see you around here again."

Thalia nods, holding her hands out as Frank goes to undo the cuffs.

"I'll see you at the end of the month, right?" Percy asks Frank.

"I wouldn't miss it."

Percy waves goodbye to Frank and drags Thalia out onto the sidewalk.

Thalia sizes him up. They stand there, silent, probably blocking the paths of people trying to walk by.

Percy crosses his arms and glares at her, waiting for her to make the first move.

Thalia groans as she loses the stare down. "Thanks." She mutters begrudgingly.

Percy nods. "You're welcome."

He doesn't stop staring at her. "So, how are you?"

Thalia squints. "I'm fine."

Percy's stance relaxes a bit. "That's good. What hav-"

"Cut the shit, Jackson."

"What?" Percy says, shocked.

"I think we both know you wanna talk about Annabeth. And the only reason I'm even considering talking to you about her is because you saved my ass in there." She jabs a thumb in the direction of the building beside them.

"Right…" Percy says, smacking his lips together. "Uhh, how is she?"

"You really wanna ask how is she?"

"Well, I mean, if-"

"Fine, fine. I'll answer the question." Thalia holds her hands up in surrender. "She's good. But she seems sadder, and more distant lately."

"Uhh," Percy scratches the back of his neck. "Do you know why?"

"No. She won't tell us." Thalia says. She points an accusing finger at him. "Did you break her heart or some shit? I know you just got me out of there and I know we're right outside a police station but if you hurt her, I will beat you up."

"What? No! I didn't do anything." Percy yelps. "Don't beat me up."

Thalia glares at him.

"Please?" Percy offers. "Look, I just wanna talk to her."

"Why? So, you can go and break her heart some more? She hasn't even stolen anything in like, the past two weeks. I've had to go do it all."

Percy looks around, but the bustling people of New York don't seem to care about what Thalia had just said. "I just want to talk to her. I'm not gonna hurt her."

Thalia crosses her arms, telling him to continue.

Percy sighs. "I-I like her, okay?"

"God, you're such a dweeb." Thalia drops her arms and heavily rolls her eyes. "Did you seriously just profess your love?"

"No? I definitely did not. I don't love her. I just can't stop thinking about her. That's it." Percy shakes his head, denying what Thalia says. "Look, I just want to see her again.

"Alright, then." Thalia nods. "I'll give you a time and place to meet her."

"Wait, what?"

Thalia starts to walk away.

"What just happened?" Percy calls out to her.

Thalia doesn't turn around, instead disappearing into the crowd.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Apparently, a time and place is a 1:00 am grocery run.

Percy was hanging with Jason and Leo at his apartment. They were playing board games and getting mad at each other, and they were flipping board games and getting even madder at each other.

They had just finished the last of their Mountain Dew and Leo had already started sobbing in the corner when Jason got a text.

The next thing Percy knows, he's being whisked away to the closest supermarket for more drinks and snacks.

There wasn't even a debate. Jason demanded Percy get the snacks. Even when Leo offered to go with him, Jason said he'd be fine alone.

"I'd be fine alone my ass." Percy grumbles as the sliding doors of the supermarket open. The artificial lights blind him and he puts his arm up to cover his face.

He drearily walks to the drinks section. He's getting too old to be staying up until 1:00 am.

He grabs a package of Dr. Pepper for himself, some Mountain Dew for Leo and he debates forgetting about buying some of Jason's favourite drink, but in the end, he doesn't.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have three arms, and trying to get some snacks would be impossible. So, Percy trudges back to the main entrance of the store to grab a cart.

And wow. There's Annabeth walking into the store. Looking well-rested and gorgeous.

The pack of Mountain Dew slips out of his numb fingers and Percy releases a cry as the metal cans fall onto his foot.

Annabeth's head whips in his direction. "Percy?"

"Aaahhh-oooowww." Percy jumps up, hobbling on one foot.

He almost trips over the soda laying on the ground but he narrowly avoids it, resting on a display beside him.

He watches Annabeth sigh and roll her eyes, before briskly walking over to him.

Percy had planned everything he was going to say the next time he saw Annabeth, but as she stands in front of him glaring, his foot throbbing in pain, he finds it difficult to speak any actual words.

Percy tentatively rests his foot on the ground, murderously eyeing the overturned package of Mountain Dew.

"What are you doing here, Percy?" Annabeth asks him, her arms crossed.

She seems almost annoyed, and if Percy wasn't in so much pain, Percy would get the feeling that she doesn't want to see him.

He holds up the pack of Dr. Pepper in his other hand. "Shopping."

"What are you doing here, at this store?" Annabeth says. "You don't usually shop here."

"Well, my other store was closed… Wait, why do you know what store I shop at? Have you been avoiding me? Has Piper been avoiding me?"

Annabeth groans, grabbing his arm and pulling him deeper into the snack aisle. She doesn't say anything when they stop.

"Well?" Percy asks again. "Have you been avoiding me?"

"Yes…" She mutters, looking down. "I've been avoiding you."

Obviously, Percy knew that. It was fairly clear that Annabeth doesn't want to talk to him after their night together. But hearing her admit it out loud broke something inside of him.

He tries not to let how hurt he is show on his face. "Why?" He whispers.

Suddenly, they were a lot closer than they were when she had first entered the store. Annabeth notices this and backs away.

"Because…" She quakes. Tears form in her eyes.

"Because why?" Percy closes the distance between them, reaching to brush a tear from her cheek. "You can trust me…"

"I know a can trust you!" She half-shouts, hitting her fist to his chest. She bunches his shirt and pulls him close, crying into his chest. "I know I can trust you…"

"Then what's the matter?" Percy whispers into her ear, confused. He hates to see her like this. So broken. It reminds him of when she was at his apartment, crying, telling him the story of how Luke betrayed her trust.

"I can trust you…" She repeats, mainly to herself.

"You can tell me anything, Annabeth. I won't hate you." Percy strokes her back, running his fingers through her hair.

"But you should." She says, looking him in the eyes. Her eyes as stormy as ever.

"Why?" Percy says. She looks so different than the person who had first walked into the store. That person was calm and composed.

"I stole from you." Annabeth tells him and Percy chuckles a bit.

"I know you did." Percy says. "And I don't care."

"But I also left…" She doesn't clarify but Percy knows what she means.

"Why'd you leave?" Percy asks her in a low tone, his voice catching. He looks away and his smile drops.

Annabeth leans into his chest. "I was scared. I was scared to trust someone...and to- to let them in."

"It was easier to run." She continues, speaking to his chest.

Her voice makes his chest vibrate.

"I know I can trust you…" She says. "But you s-shouldn't trust me."

Another round of silent tears shows up. He can feel her sobbing against his chest.

"It's okay, Annabeth." Percy consoles. With his arms around her, he guides her to the ground, so they're sitting, leaning against a shelf filled with cookies.

Annabeth shifts, so instead of sitting beside him, she's sitting on his lap.

"I'm sorry." She whispers. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. God, I hate how much you affect me."

"It's okay." Percy whispers into her hair. He lifts her chin so she's looking him in the eye.

Her makeup is slightly runny and Percy's shirt is soaked.

"You look like a mess." Percy teases, wiping away another tear. "You're, like, the coolest, most rad person I know."

Her sobbing momentarily stops. A small smile makes its way to her face and it's probably because Percy just used rad as a genuine compliment. Before he knows it Annabeth presses her lips to his face.

Percy's surprised but he kisses her back, trying to convey every possible emotion he has for her in the kiss.

They pull away breathless.

"I think you're pretty rad, too." Annabeth says, hugging him.

When she pulls away, a box of cookies are in her hand. She pulls another package off the shelf beside them and opens it.

"Now is a perfect time for cookies." Percy agrees, snatching the one out of her hand. He opens a can of Dr. Pepper from the pack he was carrying, offering her one.

Annabeth leans her head against his chest and Percy wraps his arm around her even tighter.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

They've been sitting on the floor of the supermarket, talking, laughing, eating for at least an hour. Percy's sure he's gotten tonnes of texts from Jason and Leo and Annabeth's the same. But he can't find a good reason to pull out his phone and answer them.

Percy takes a bite from probably his hundredth Oreo, laughing when Annabeth flicks some crumbs down his shirt.

They both turn their heads as an employee turns the corner, broom in hand and sweeping. He doesn't notice them until he accidentally hits an empty pack of cookies with his broom while sweeping.

The employee stares at them. Percy and Annabeth stare back, eyes wide.

"Uh," The employee starts to say, taking in the interesting sight before him. "Are you guys gonna pay for that?"

fin

okay so. leigh (leighismyname) you are old. you are getting old. and i am here to celebrate you being old. old old old.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ahhh for starters i hope it's amazing. you're an amazing human being and you totally deserve to have a nice day.

for seven days straight i've been waking up at 3 pm and going to bed at 5 am and all I've been doing is working on this fic. (Don't worry, lol I was already waking up at three and going to bed at 5) but now i had something super fun to entertain me with. And now that it's finally done, i present you with this.

This fic. it's yours now. have fun with it lol. take it on a long walk to the beach, or maybe get some ice cream, idk. And maybe i'm slowly going delirious but it's totally worth it since I got to surprise you with a fic that means a lot to me. You've been listening to me ramble on and off for soooo long. I remember reading your fics all the way back in 2017 (all the way back since before you changed your site name) but never actually starting a convo with you until Feb 19, 2018. (a date never to be forgotten)

but here we are now and wow it's been a long way.

I remember reading fics like Drowning and Sixth Period Study Hall and that's incredible to me (one, because they are soooo good, they truly will be missed.) but, two, because that's something nobody nowadays can experience anymore. so it's a fun memory I have that will always be cherished. (hmu maybe we can work together to finish Drowning lol)

so anyway, leigh, (time to be as cheesy as possible) i truly appreciate you, as a person and as an author. One, for inspiring me with your fics, and two for being someone that I can talk to. I've always believed the best thing about this site was the people on it. Thank you for proving me right.

super huge thank you to Mia (herecomesthepun) for having a brilliant mind with brilliant ideas that basically carried me through this story. Ever since I started this fic, she was the first person I went to for help. and she gave literally as much help as possible. All of her advice was useful, pushing the story in a direction i couldn't have even thought to take it. if for some reason you have never heard of herecomesthepun, I urge you to check her out.

and heres some fun stuff about the story.

-I wrote it in seven days. I don't know if that's some sort of personal best? but it totally feels like it. I haven't written this much in such a short time since I realized i had an english essay due the next day lol

-this fic (once it's uploaded) will have been my 100k word mark. Because of this fic, I have published a total of 100k words. Yes, some people have done 100k words in one fic, but it's still an achievement I'm proud of nonetheless

-the scene in this fic where Annabeth talks about the secret to stealing being keeping someone's focus, was totally inspired by the movie Focus, starring Margot Robbie and Will Smith.

That is the end of this AN! please do check out leighismyname and herecomesthepun. if you want to, leave a review, that'd be cool. Maybe even drop a favourite? That'd be stellar. As always, all mistakes are mine and i hope you all enjoyed!

happy birthday leigh!