"How long do you think until lunch?"

Annabeth pauses in the middle of writing down a sentence to glare at the person who asked the question.

"I have no idea. Why don't you pay attention?" she whispers, clicking her pen a few times for emphasis.

"I am paying attention. But my stomach is growling and I haven't eaten in a whole—" he checks his watch – "four hours."

He frowns and rests his head on his hand, taking up all of Annabeth's armrest. She glowers at him and nudges his arm.

"You have my utmost sympathy," Annabeth snaps, annoyed because the man has managed to distract her from a whole minute of the lecture. "I really hope you can make it through these final ten minutes without dying of starvation."

He perks up.

"Ten minutes? Are you serious? That's all that's left?" he flashes her a winning smile and starts bobbing his knee with excitement. "I saw they have burritos in the cafeteria. Do you think they'll be good here?"

Annabeth pokes a hole in her paper in frustration— just her luck that she decided to sit next to the most obnoxious person in the entire auditorium.

"What are you, four years old? I thought that once you turn like, maybe twelve, you get past the whole 'when is this over' phase."

"Well, seeing as the end of the year is in a week, I guess growing up should be on my New Years resolution list. You know, new year, new you."

Annabeth grits her teeth. She's pretty sure that there's nothing she hates more than that New Years crap—countless resolution lists that never end up being completed, people swearing to new workout regimes or strict schedules that end up being forgotten in two weeks' time.

"A new you would just be ideal right now," Annabeth mutters. The man next to her winces, and Annabeth regrets the comment immediately.

"Ouch," he says, pressing his hands against his chest and feigning a heart attack, "low blow."

"Sorry," she amends. "Didn't mean it."

He winks at her. Her heart stops. He actually just winked at her.

"Don't worry, I know you didn't. Who could ever want to change anything about me?"

Annabeth snorts, though she's slightly relieved that he isn't mad. "You're right. You're just perfect. I can't believe I even suggested that… I'm such an idiot."

He gives her an easy smile, and for the first time his eyes meet hers. "You're not an idiot. Just a little confused. Don't worry though, I tend to do that to people."

She rolls her eyes at the arrogant comment. He's seriously getting on her nerves, but not in the normal way where she'd be able to easily get up and never see him again. He has the sort of calm confidence that is slightly irritating, but mostly amusing. They've never met before—Annabeth is certain she has never seen him. But he talks to her like they've been friends for their entire life.

Annabeth looks him up and down and immediately pegs him as a Mamma's boy. It's obvious; really, his tie is tied just a little too perfectly and his collar is folded neatly in the back. If the last few minutes of conversation have been any indication, Annabeth is pretty sure that he isn't able to do all of that himself.

He's a Mamma's boy or he has a super obsessive girlfriend, she decides, the second option making her mouth twitch into a frown. Because no matter how much she decides to hate him, she can't deny that he's seriously attractive—with his ruffled black hair and broad shoulders and… his smile is doing all sorts of things to her stomach.

She sticks her tongue out at him, in a childish sort of way, and turns her attention back to the speaker: Dr. James Lewis, professor of business.

Her cheeks burn slightly red. Did she really just stick her tongue out at someone?

"And that concludes our discussion on group management for today. As you can see, the use of ice breakers to integrate new members into the office environment is a very effective method of—"

"Hey," says a voice in her ear, causing her to jump. He's right next to her, and she can feel his breath on her cheek. Annabeth clenches her jaw and scowls, hoping that she looks annoyed.

She turns toward him and shushes him very loudly, trying to ignore the fact that his face is millimeters from her. Their noses practically touch.

"Can I please," she whispers, "hear the end of this? You've managed to distract me from the last ten minutes of this and I've missed valuable information."

He scoffs. "You call a lecture on ice breakers 'valuable information'? Please. We've all done them a million times, this is nothing new."

Annabeth clicks her pen in annoyance. "Maybe you are the king of ice breakers but I personally would like to hear this and you're being particularly—"

"You look pretty in that dress."

The second that leaves his mouth, he stands up. As if on queue, the entire auditorium follows his motion, and everyone starts making his or her way towards the exit, chatting with one another about the presentation and their lunch plans. Annabeth, however, is momentarily frozen in her seat, her mouth slightly open in shock.

The man pauses at the end of the row, combs his long black hair to the side, and gives a tentative smile to Annabeth.

"So, how about some burritos, then?"

"I can't believe you didn't get one, after all of that complaining," Annabeth nudges him in the side as they make their way towards an empty table.

"They looked gross. I clearly said that I would only get one if they looked good. They didn't," he raises his eyebrows, daring her to challenge him.

They walk over to a booth together, Annabeth with her cob salad and him with his distinctly not a burrito lunch. Annabeth slides in and he pauses at the end of the table for a moment, biting his bottom lip lightly as if contemplating something.

Annabeth shoots him a quizzical look and he grins, instantly making up his mind and sliding in next to her. She groans. He's really broad and he squishes her against the wall, his limbs taking up most of the room.

"There's the other side of the booth for a reason."

He shrugs. "This side looks more comfy."

"So," Annabeth says mildly, picking at her salad with her fork, "is this how you usually pick up girls?"

He meets her gaze. "Oh, do you mean act like a total goofball and hope the ladies think it's cute?"

Annabeth nods and breathes a sigh of relief— that means he's not some snarky guy trying to hit on her while he has a girlfriend. He's just a mamma's boy. She can deal with that.

"Yup, pretty much. My mom says that my childishness is an endearing quality." He points his thumb at his chest and gives her a gloating grin.

That causes her to snort, and she tries to cover it up with a cough. "Did your mom also tie your tie for you?"

He looks down at his tie, his face pensive as he contemplates this for a moment. "Surprisingly no, she didn't. By the time I turned about eighteen I sort of got the hang of it."

From the look in his eyes, Annabeth can tell that he's quite proud of that. She gives a sarcastic clap for him and he pretends to bow.

Which causes him to smack his head on the wooden table, leaving the slight imprint of a fork on his forehead. Annabeth covers up her mouth to muffle her giggles.

Did she just giggle? Annabeth never giggles. Never. Curse his cuteness.

Idiocy. Curse his idiocy.

He frowns at her, his large green eyes matching her gray ones, and swipes at his forehead.

"That actually hurt, you know," he mutters, rubbing at the dent just above his left eyebrow.

"Do you need a kiss or something to make it feel better?" Annabeth teases, jutting out her lower lip in mock sympathy.

The tips of his ears turn pink and his gaze fixes on her lips. "It probably would… you know…" he sniffs dramatically, "make it feel better."

Annabeth isn't surprised.

"Well, typically before I go kissing guys I like to learn their name."

"Percy Jackson."

Annabeth chokes on her coffee. "Percy?" she repeats. "As in, Perseus the Greek hero?"

Percy nods solemnly. "That was me in a past life. Try not to be star-struck or anything."

"I'm trying not to swoon."

He pushes away his plate and leans closer to Annabeth, resting his elbow on the table. His wide green eyes land on Annabeth and he blinks innocently.

"And you are?"

"Annabeth Chase."

"Annabeth," he repeats, smiling as he says it. "I like that name."

Annabeth looks down at her hands on the table, at her mostly eaten cob salad, at anything besides Percy's face, which is so close to hers that she can count his eyelashes. She has the sudden urge to kiss him— her pulse hammers in her throat so loud that she's almost sure he can hear it.

"So, Annabeth Chase," he says smugly, which only increases her urge to wipe his expression clear off his face. "How about that kiss now?"

And before she can second guess herself, she yanks on his tie, pulling in his face for a searing kiss she can feel from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

He seems surprised at first, but he quickly regains his senses, and she feels him shift next to her so he can wrap his arm around her back and frame her face with one of his hands.

And yeah. It's pretty much the best kiss she's ever had.

"So," she says, pulling away and blushing at Percy's bewildered expression, "how's that for an ice breaker?"

He gives her a sheepish smile.

"I'm glad one of us was paying attention."

A/N: Please please please send in requests if you have any!