A/N: Just a thought on the lustful stage of relationships and all the ways to get around the rules…

Sally Blofis knocked twice on her son's bedroom door before walking in.

There was a squeal and a deep cry of "Mom!" as Sally took in the scene before her. Her son was sitting on the edge of his bed, buttoning up his shirt, his hair mussed and his belt undone. Annabeth, his girlfriend of 6 months, was by the pillows, tugging down the end of her shirt. Her hair was tugged out of the band and curling along her shoulders and she was avoiding eye contact with the woman who had entered the room.

Sally crossed her arms over her chest. "Perseus."

"Uh…" He and the young woman on his bed both blushed furiously as he redid his belt. "Sorry."

"I should go," Annabeth said quickly. She jumped off the bed, grabbed her jacket from the floor and slipped into her flats. "Bye, Mrs. Blofis." She slipped past her and to the door. When it clicked closed behind her, Sally turned to her son.

"I didn't even know she was here."

He blushed. "That was kind of the point."

"Percy! Look, I know that you're getting older and Annabeth's very pretty and you may be feeling some…things that you can't talk about with me—"

"Mom! We were just kissing! Will you drop it?" He stood and tried to walk past her, but Sally put her hands on his shoulders, looking up at him. She brushed a few clumps of hair back into place and he sighed. "I'm sorry. Things have been…a little intense with her, with us, lately."

"Fine. I understand, Percy. Just…no more inside the house, okay?"

"But, Mom, I'm not allowed in her dorm and—"

"Percy." She gave him a stern look that told him the conversation was over.

"Fine."

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"Oh my gods, I'm so embarrassed," Annabeth said through her IM with Percy later that night.

He smirked. "You? What about me? I was the one with my pants undone!"

She blushed. "Sorry."

"I'm not," Percy said slowly as he winked.

Her flush lightened a bit and the red tint of her cheeks was suddenly more from passion than from embarrassment. Her mouth was slightly open in surprise. She shook herself. "You can't say things like that to me, Seaweed Brain!" She ran a hand through her hair and then put it to one of her cheeks as if to force the red away. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

Percy was about to give affirmation when his mom's new rule rang in the back of his mind. "Well, sure, but we can't go to my place."

Annabeth's eyebrows arched. "Why not?"

"My mom kind of banned us from…hijinks here."

"Oh. Well, let's just go to the movies. We haven't had a normal date for a while. Lately we've just been jumping each other."

Percy grinned. "Sounds like a plan."

Annabeth glanced to the side and frowned. "My roommate's back. See you tomorrow, Seaweed Brain."

"I'll pick you up at 5."

She blew him a kiss before running her hand through the IM.

Percy fell back against his pillows and sighed, staring at the ceiling. He smirked, thinking about what a "normal" date would entail. They'd hold hands while they walked to the theatre. He'd put his arm around her sometime during the movie and she'd lean into him. Their fingers would touch in the popcorn and sparks would fly out. They might share a glance and then casually look back at the screen like nothing had happened. And then, they'd walk back to the street, find a cab, and Percy would walk her to the door of her dormitory, brush a piece of hair behind her ear and give her one sweet, lingering kiss.

Percy smiled. Gods, but he loved her. And gods did he want her. For whatever reason, every single touch had been heightened as of late. Maybe it was the fact that the touches were less innocent than before but if that was it, it was helped by the other fact that he had gone 6 months with the "look, don't touch" rule held in place by his girlfriend, who happened to be very, very gorgeous.

And now she was destroying her own rule every time they were alone together. He could hardly keep up with her hands. He shivered just thinking about it. But think about it he did, up until the second he fell asleep.

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"Hey, Mom, I'm going to pick up Annabeth. I'll be back later, okay?"

"Sure thing," Sally called back.

"Hey, Percy, why don't you take my car?"

Pause. "Seriously?"

Paul came around the corner, brand-spanking-new-Prius keys in his hand. "Yeah, sure. You haven't gotten a lot of practice since you got your license. Just make sure Blackjack isn't around, okay?"

Percy laughed and caught the keys as his step-farther through them. "Yeah. Thanks, Paul."

"Sure."

As the door closed behind Percy, Sally put an arm around her husband and said, "You're just trying to suck up because you know he's upset that I wouldn't let Annabeth in his bedroom and you don't want him to be mad at you, too."

"What can I say? Guilty as charged. But brilliance isn't a crime."

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After the film, which ended at 7:30, Percy wrapped his arm around his girlfriend, protecting her from the chill of mid February. She smiled up at him and he kissed the tip of her nose.

"Percy," she whined.

"I can't help that you're so utterly adorable."

"Come here." She grabbed his jacket and led him into the Starbucks on the corner. Thankfully it was relatively empty except for a group of girls in the back and a man hunched over a laptop to the far left. She walked up to the counter, Percy following, and smiled at the boy working the register. "Two hot chocolates, please."

"Whipped cream?"

"Definitely."

He smiled warmly and Percy handed him a ten, pocketing the change. A couple minutes later, they were sharing a loveseat, staring out the window as they sipped their hot chocolate. A fine powder of something that could barely be called snow dusted the ground. The last snow storm had happened two weeks ago, but was leaving the occasional sprinkle of powder in its wake.

"It's beautiful tonight," Annabeth mumbled, snuggling in closer to Percy.

He kissed the top of her head, soaking in her lemony scent. And then he kissed the tip of her ear, then the side of her neck and her collarbone.

"Percy," she whispered.

He looked up, surprised at himself. "Sorry."

She was flushed as she stared at him, but it had nothing to do with the cold. "Do you wanna go back to the car?"

He swallowed tightly. "Where would we go?"

"If you let me drive, I'll show you."

She stood first, holding out her hand.

"Not afraid of a little risk, are you, Seaweed Brain?"

He grinned. "Not at all."

They hurried through the cold out to the car and Annabeth turned up the heat as they slid from the parking spot by the theatre and onto the street. She drove within the speed limit, but only just and glanced at Percy every few seconds to find that he was staring at her.

Calm down, he told his body. More specifically, to the appendage between his legs, he scolded, You are not the boss of me.

When Annabeth pulled into a dimly lit alley behind what appeared to be an old nightclub and unbuckled her seatbelt, Percy's heart beat double time. He did the same to his seatbelt and leaned across the console, cupping her head in his hand and lowering his mouth to hers.

Somehow they made it to the backseat eventually and Annabeth gave a mew of delight as Percy leaned over her, his hand trailing up her leg. He skimmed her hip and was just about to dip under her layers when she pushed him back so he was sitting straight up in the middle seat and straddled him.

"Hi there," he muttered.

She smirked devilishly. "I think I've found our new place for hijinks. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh, definitely."

She kissed him passionately, her hands slipping between their torsos and down his chest to his belt. It was open in a matter of seconds and Percy groaned, grabbing her hands.

"Not so low. Not yet."

She smiled at the power she had over him and dove in for another, deeper, kiss, her hands now working on getting his jacket off. When it was, he helped her get her sweatshirt off and threw them both onto the front seat.

"I like this sweater," Percy mumbled, nuzzling her neck.

Annabeth made a mental note to wear the pretty red sweater with the sweetheart neckline more often and then bit her lip to keep from moaning. She pulled back, swiftly unbuttoning his shirt. He laughed when she groaned in frustration. "More layers?" she hissed at the grey T-shirt that lay underneath the blue long sleeve.

"It's cold out," Percy said defensively as his hands curled under the hem of the sweater and pulled. Annabeth lifted her arms compliantly, the fabric soon being thrown to join the jackets. "Oh, you're such a hypocrite." He would have laughed at her silky white camisole, had it not been so utterly attractive to see her in it, sitting on his lap with her kiss-swollen lips and messy hair… It was enough to make blood throb painfully…everywhere.

"It's cold out," she repeated, nipping his ear lobe. "Warm me up, Percy."

He suppressed a shiver and kissed her shoulder, sliding down the white strap and noting that the red one next to it must belong to the bra underneath. He smiled and continued with the kisses as he let Annabeth get his T-shirt off. Then, he held her to him, forehead on her shoulder, their chests meeting.

"I don't wanna force you into anything," he whispered.

"You're not. I promise."

He pulled back to meet her gaze and brushed a curl behind her ear. "Gods, you're heartbreakingly gorgeous."

"You're breathtakingly handsome."

"Kiss me."

"I thought you'd never ask."

Percy groaned as their lips met again, tongues darting out to battle for dominance. Annabeth raised her arms slowly and Percy, understanding the silent request, broke the kiss to help the camisole over her head.

He stared for a moment and Annabeth touched his chin, raising her gaze to his.

"I'd tell you what I'm thinking right now, but I don't wanna ruin the moment," he whispered. He twisted his fingers in her hair, both moving in to continue their make out session.

Percy was happily distracted for many minutes before her nimble little fingers released the button on his jeans. He groaned.

"Annabeth…"

"Percy."

"Annabeth, please. I can't take much more of this."

She pulled the belt out of their loops, tossing it onto the floor, and wrapped her arms around his neck, shifting so she was sitting directly on top of his lap, and the happy little bulge.

He sucked in a quick breath. "I'm trying to be a gentleman. I don't want you to regret something."

"I don't regret anything so far," she told him, her hands running down his perfectly sculptured chest. "I want you." Her eyes met his. "I want this. Admittedly, I didn't plan on our first time being in the back of your step dad's Prius, but—"

"It won't be. It'll be in a bed and you'll get roses and soft music and candles and everything. But even this… This is pushing it. How about we keep the pants on for a while?" He brushed his nose against hers and kissed her lips softly.

"Mmhm. And just think," she said, bending to kiss his neck, "in a month or so, I'll be wearing skirts and shorts on our dates again."

Gods help him.

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Percy closed the door behind him and tossed the keys to Paul, who was sitting on the couch. "Thanks, Paul."

"Sure thing, Perce. How was your date?"

He smiled. "Nice. It was really, really nice."

"Glad to hear it."

Percy said goodnight and walked to his bedroom. He leaned against the door and slid down, a silly smile breaking out over his face. He just hoped that his mom or Paul didn't find out about his and Annabeth's new hiding spot until whatever phase they were going through in their relationship was over. But Percy doubted he'd be able to look at Annabeth without feeling thoroughly turned on for the next couple months.

Oh, well. They probably wouldn't figure it out anyway.

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The next morning, Paul told Percy to wait upstairs while he made sure the car was actually running after last night's snow fall. Percy was staring at the ceiling when Paul arrived back in the apartment.

"Percy…"

He looked up.

"What were these doing in my car?"

Percy stared, open-mouthed, at the belt and little white cami dangling from Paul's fingers. Oh, damn. "Umm…"

A/N: Please review!

Love,

E. M. Zeray