one.

Taking a night off was a bad idea. Annabeth was stressed. She was stressed and she was tired and she was getting absolutely nowhere with this stupid essay that she should have done the night before but didn't, because Piper had dragged her out to that stupid party. And then of course they'd had to wait for Jason to show up, but he'd apparently decided to be fashionably late, so Piper had ended up keeping Annabeth there way longer than she'd intended. Annabeth hadn't drank all that much, so she wasn't too badly hungover, but she was extremely tired, and that was almost worse.

This essay was due in two hours, but she probably wasn't going to get it finished in time, because a crappy introductory paragraph and a few sparse dot points do not an essay make. But there she was, diligently slaving away as a good student should, typing and deleting and retyping the same paragraph over and over.

She was just about to throw her laptop out the goddamn window when there was a knock on the door. Annabeth looked up, the bones in her neck cracking as she did so, and called, "Come in."

The door creaked open, meeting resistance from the blazer that had fallen off the doorknob as soon as she'd hung it there in the early hours of the morning. It now lay crumpled on the floor, proving a useful blockade. Whoever was on the other side pushed with a bit more force, and the blazer was pushed up against the wall as the door swung fully open. It was Piper.

Annabeth wanted to be pissed off at her for getting her into this predicament, but she was a hard person to stay angry with. Her choppy hair had about five feathers and twice as many braids in it, and she had her hands shoved into the pockets of her jeans in a way that Annabeth knew meant she was feeling particularly sheepish. She'd thought she'd be ropable at the mere sight of her after waking up to an early alarm titled ESSAY DUE TODAY, but seeing Piper standing there with bags under her eyes just made Annabeth feel sorry for her.

"Are you deliberately trying to keep people out of here?" Piper asked, looking down at the blazer which had blocked her entrance.

"If by people you mean you, then yes," Annabeth replied.

Piper sat herself on the end of the bed, on top of one of the dresses Annabeth had considered wearing the night before (she'd discarded it and gone with the blue one, in the end) and hadn't yet found time to hang up. The mattress dipped beneath her and a balled up pair of stockings rolled onto the floor. "I would like to remind you, dear friend, that you do love me and that I was doing a favour getting you out of the house last night. There's this thing called 'going stir crazy', you should probably look it up."

This was all true, and Annabeth was grateful for it. She'd been so overwhelmed with school work and the general change that came with transitioning from high school to college that she'd gone a little study mad. It was nice of her housemate and friend to take her out and force her to socialise every once in awhile. Parties were all part of the college experience, Piper had insisted. And Annabeth had even had fun, when she was there.

But then she'd remembered that she had an essay due, and had promptly gone into panic mode. She'd had to skip her two morning lectures to work on it today, but she could listen to the recordings later, and thankfully she'd been taking detailed notes all semester. She could do this. The dread she was feeling was totally unfounded.

"If you hadn't kidnapped me last night, this essay would have already been done," she said smartly.

Piper rolled her eyes. "'Kidnapped'. God, you're so dramatic. Anyway, I know that. Why do you think I've left you alone this morning? It's penance for last night. Also I've only just woken up."

Annabeth scrunched her nose up and spun back around to face her desk. She wasn't actually mad at Piper, but she was mad at herself for not having done this essay sooner. It wasn't like her to leave something like this to the last minute, and everything about the whole situation felt agonisingly wrong.

Piper made a thoughtful little humming noise. "Sorry, again. How's the essay going?"

Annabeth's notebook sat beside her on the desk. She'd been using it to jot down references and rough sketches, so she didn't get too confused by having dozens of tabs and documents open at once. She ripped a blank piece of paper from it, balled it up and threw it at her friend's face.

She caught it just before it made contact. "Yeah, don't know why I asked that. I could hear you swearing from the kitchen."

Annabeth swung back around in her chair, mortified. "Are you telling me you were in the kitchen and you didn't even bring me food? I'm sitting here, slaving away on this essay I would have already finished if you hadn't dragged me out -"

Piper threw the paper back at her head. She ducked just in time, and it sailed past to hit the window and bounce back on to the desk. "You've got legs," she said.

"Right. Well, the essay just… isn't going. There's nothing. I'm absolutely blocked." Annabeth ran her hands through her blonde hair, pushing the curls back off her forehead so the shorter ones stuck out sideways at odd angles. She slapped herself lightly on the cheeks and breathed out a huge sigh. "I'm doomed."

"Maybe you should take a break," Piper suggested. "Come out and watch some TV, switch off for a little bit. Come back to it later, more refreshed -"

"I can't come back to it later, Piper," Annabeth argued. "There isn't time for a break. It's due in a couple of hours, and I'm not even close to done."

Piper had the grace to look mildly uncomfortable. She rubbed the back of her neck and shrugged one shoulder. "It doesn't have to be good, you know…"

"It does if I want to get into honours," Annabeth shot back.

"I guess, if you really want to sell your soul to someone else's research…"

"Thanks, Piper, you're so inspirational in my time of need." She swung back violently and knocked her knee against the edge of the desk. She swore loudly and dropped her head onto the desk, still muttering a string of muffled curse words.

Piper winced in sympathy. "I really think you need a break."

Annabeth sat back and pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes until she saw spots of colour against the black. "Please leave."

"Really, Annabeth, you've still got plenty of time," Piper said in a placating manner as she stood. "Don't stress yourself out about it."

She was at the door when Annabeth called over her shoulder, "Are you making dinner anytime soon?"

Piper scoffed. "It's two in the afternoon."

"Lunch then?"

"I'm not your slave."

Annabeth shrugged and said, "Okay, go out drinking by yourself next time then."

"You didn't even drink that much, you baby!" There was a pause, and then, "Toasted sandwich okay?"

"What kind of toastie?"

"Vegetarian. Probably cheese."

"Yes please."

Piper muttered something about lazy people taking advantage.

Annabeth said loudly, "Love you!"

She didn't have to turn around to hear the smile in Piper's voice when she replied, "Yeah, you too. Loser."

Spurred on by the power of melted cheese and white bread, Annabeth eventually completed the essay. By the time she was done with her references she didn't even care that her entire concluding paragraph was essentially just the same sentence reworded six times. She printed it, stapled it together and tossed the pages into her bag.

She grabbed the blazer shoved behind the door and ran into the lounge, awkwardly twisting her arms into the sleeves and juggling her messenger bag as she went.

Rachel was lying on the couch, her legs hanging over the arm and her mass of red curls taking up an entire cushion by themselves. Piper was squished up the other end, scrolling through her Twitter and only half-watching the trashy reality tv show that was on. Both looked up as Annabeth crashed into the wall.

Rachel arched her eyebrow. "Done?"

"Done."

Piper smiled her most charming smile. "Proud of you."

"Still have to hand it in on time," Annabeth said as she opened the door. "Damn hard-copy submissions."

Her friends called out something encouraging as she bolted, but the exact details were lost when the door slammed shut behind her.

She made it two steps before she noticed the bright orange construction cones and barricades at the end of the building. They blocked the entire path, stretching right around the road that encircled the oval. On the other side, workers in hard hats and fluoro jackets were digging up the bitumen. Little detour arrow signs pointed to the right, out onto the public street. Great. That meant she'd have to walk right around all the residential colleges, past the sports fields, and in through the side gate, which was going to take far longer than she'd like. She looked hopelessly at the construction workers, wishing they'd chosen any day but today. Wishing wasn't going to make them go away, however, so she started in the opposite direction.

Compared to the temperature inside her small apartment, the Fall air was brisk. Annabeth's cheeks took on a pink hue as she half-jogged, half-marched the equivalent of two-city blocks to the side gate of campus. With every step her bag clunked against her hip, the weight of her assignment urging her forward. There was a steady stream of cars flowing down the street from both directions, and a couple of times Annabeth had to step aside to let some runners pass on the footpath. A girl from one of her tutes waved as she rode past on her bicycle, and Annabeth desperately wished that her own bike didn't have a flat.

The side entrance to the campus was one of the busiest. It was on a main road, on the other side of which was one of the most popular parks in the city, so the entire area was always congested. The constant stream of traffic meant that they'd installed lights at the gate.

Annabeth paused just long enough to register the walk signal, and went to step out onto the road - only to be yanked violently backwards, shrieking and stumbling back onto the curb just in time for a car to speed past, close enough to make her hair fly sideways over her face. Her mouth fell open in shock and her hand flew to her racing heart. She'd fallen against something solid and warm, and while it provided a comforting support, she hurried to regain composure. She pushed herself away and turned around to see who it was that had probably saved her life.

The first thing she registered was a bare chest: an extremely tanned, extremely muscular bare chest. Her eyes widened and her heart did something that felt like a somersault. She looked up to see who the chest belonged to and saw a guy roughly her age. He was around half a head taller than her, broad shouldered with a strong, angular jaw and dark hair squashed under a backwards snapback. He was staring at her with an expression caught between amused and bewildered. He was holding a skateboard at his side, and the bright blue underside contrasted with the dark denim of his jeans. There was a grey t-shirt tucked into his back pocket, and the smallest sliver of the band of his underwear (also blue, Annabeth couldn't help but note) was visible around his hips. Annabeth's heart continued its gymnastics routine as she forced herself to meet his gaze. The intensity of his stare made her shift, acutely aware of the fact that they were standing toe to toe.

Stupidly, she felt suddenly over dressed. She was wearing her clothes from the previous night - a cocktail dress and blazer. She had the horrifying realisation that she was still wearing last night's makeup, too; she probably had dark eyeshadow and pink lipstick smudged across her face. She tugged on the strap of the bag he'd used to pull her to safety and swept her tangled hair over her shoulder, trying to twist it into something vaguely presentable. His sea green eyes didn't leave her face even as she tried to avert her gaze, fumbling for the right way to say thanks. His silence didn't help her nerves.

"Thank you!" she blurted. "I saw the walk signal and I just, well, I'm in a hurry, I have this essay I need to hand in. I'm not normally like this, I swear. Normally I'm not a rush to hand in essays and normally I look both ways before crossing the street… But anyway, what sort of person doesn't stop at a red light -"

The sound of him chuckling made her draw in a breath. Her cheeks flushed. She gave him a moment to speak, perhaps ask her if she was alright or respond to her thanks in some way, but he didn't say a word. He was just looking at her, wide eyed. She wondered what he was seeing that could inspire the wonder in his expression, because at that moment she felt like the human embodiment of a train wreck. He leaned towards her, closing what little personal space there had been between them. Panic ignited inside Annabeth and her polite smile slipped. She took a small step back, leaning away. He remained where he was, no longer advancing but not moving away, either. She held her breath, waiting to see what he'd do next.

When he remained silent, she pursed her chapped lips and said, "Well, uh, I do have an essay to hand in. So. Thanks… I guess."

As she turned around, she heard the click of his skateboard hitting the ground. "Want an escort? To make sure you don't step out in front of any more cars?" His voice was rich, warm and laced with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Indignation overrode her embarrassment. She stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"You're excused." He flashed her an endearing smile and took off on his skateboard, sailing across the clear crossing. He stopped at the other side and looked back at her, indicating she should follow. Only because she had no other way to go, Annabeth did. She kept on walking right past him, however, head held high and shoulders back.

He let her get a bit of a head start before skating up beside her, easily matching her pace. She took quick little steps, trying to outpace him without making it obvious. Like this was now some sort of competition.

After a few moments of walking - and skating - in relative silence, she asked, "Are you going to follow me the entire way?"

"Depends where you're going." He kicked his board out and walked with her as she jogged up a flight of stairs, dropping it back down when they reached the top. In one fluid movement, as though he'd never stopped in the first place, he took off skating again.

Annabeth checked her watch. Fifteen minutes. She'd never cut it this close before. Talking just to take her mind off the looming deadline, she answered his question, "To hand in my Architecture essay. You?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "Architecture? Is that your major?"

"Yes," she replied. For some reason she was pleased with the way his eyes lit up at her words. "What's yours?"

He grinned. "Marine Biology. I'm going to hand in a report, promise I'm not actually stalking you."

They turned at the same time, walking under the cathedral arches of the quadrangle, one of the older buildings on campus. Gargoyles sat in the corners, and Annabeth glanced up at them as they passed. Their hunched shoulders and beady eyes unnerved her every single time.

The guy must have followed her gaze, because he said, "They remind me of monkeys."

"Monkeys?" She glanced from him to the gargoyles and back again, not seeing it.

"Yeah. They look kind of like little monkeys, perched up there." He gestured vaguely towards the roof and then waved his arms in a brief imitation of a monkey.

She laughed, and the sound echoed throughout the quad, which was deserted apart from them. "They're some pretty ugly looking monkeys. No offence."

He flashed her a crooked smile. Her pulse raced. Oh, no.

They lapsed again into silence, but this time it felt more comfortable. The sound of Annabeth's footsteps and the rhythmic rolling of his wheels was more than enough to fill the space around them.

It was when they entered the courtyard at the other end of the corridor that he spoke again. "Percy."

She glanced at him sideways. "Annabeth."

"Nice name."

"Thanks. You too."

He smiled sheepishly and did a funny little wave. Annabeth saw a glimpse of black ink tattooed on the inside of his left forearm. He lowered his arm before she could get a proper look, but she thought it looked like a trident. She found herself curious to see it in its entirety. She felt his eyes on her face, and looked up to see him watching her intently.

"So, Annabeth."

The sound of his voice saying her name made her smile. "Yeah?"

She could see a spark of recognition in his eyes as he stared at her. It made no sense, and her heart was racing at a million miles an hour because she'd just met this guy, but he was looking at her like he'd been waiting his whole life to see her. She found herself staring back just as intensely, unable to look away.

A loud ring came from her coat pocket, startling her out of the moment. She shoved her hand into her pocket to retrieve her phone.

His laugh was rich as he casually stepped back, dropping his skateboard with a small clatter. "Do you often play chicken with cars?"

"Oh, shut up," she said, but it lacked her usual sting.

The ringing was an alarm, letting her know that her essay was due in ten minutes. It was originally meant to be a celebratory thing, or at least that was how she'd pictured it when she'd programmed it weeks ago. Now it rang like a death knell. She silenced it with a grimace. "I really have to go, this essay's due in ten minutes and I have no idea how I'm going to make it to the Architecture building in time."

Percy smiled. "Come with me, I know a shortcut."

His shortcut may have involved a door that Annabeth had thought was rigged to set off the fire alarm when opened, followed by sliding down the banister of a staircase - nothing like the risk of falling to your death to put a late essay into perspective - but it worked. They sprinted into the Architecture building with three and a half minutes to spare.

Jogging over to the submission box, Annabeth swung her bag off her shoulder and began rummaging through it for her assignment. As her fingers groped blindly in the dark, she had a momentary breakdown. For a second she thought it wasn't in there, that she'd dropped it on the ground back at the apartment, that it had fallen out when Percy had yanked her back from the road, that she'd never even put it in there in the first place. She was having such an off day she wouldn't have been surprised.

Percy's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Are you okay? You seem a bit frazzled."

"Frazzled."

He avoided her gaze. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Finally she found the paper. She pulled it out triumphantly and said, "Come on. I don't want to get this close and still be late."

There was no need to worry, however. Her assignment was time and date stamped, signed and submitted with a minute to spare, and Annabeth momentarily felt invincible. She did a little happy dance once the paper had disappeared down the submissions shoot before spinning back to Percy, who was leaning against the opposite wall with his hands in his pockets. He was still shirtless, the muscles of his chest and abdomen thrown into sharp relief by the fluorescent lights of the hall.

"Thank you!" she gushed. "Oh, that's such a relief!"

He smiled at her and rubbed the back of his neck. "Glad I could help."

There was an awkward silence, and then the two of them spoke at the same time.

"If you're not doing anything -"

"I should probably go hand my essay in -"

Annabeth laughed lightly at his mortified expression, even as she processed what he'd just said, and whatshe'd just said. "You go first."

"I… I should probably go hand in my report." He glanced up at the clock on the wall and then back over to her, brow furrowed as though he was having trouble deciding something.

She felt her face crumple, but quickly tried to save it. She hadn't even been asking him out - she'd had nothing but genuinely friendly intentions - but she couldn't blame him for turning her down; He probably just felt sorry for her, the awkward girl who ran out in front of traffic and needed help getting across her own campus. She shrugged one shoulder and folded her arms over her chest in a protective hug. "Yeah, of course. Sorry for holding you up."

Percy looked concerned, now, but the pity in his sea green eyes was worse than rejection. "Annabeth -"

She cut him off, ducking her head and half-turning away. Her voice came out in a harsh snap. "Thanks, again. For all your help."

In her periphery she saw his mouth working silently, as though he couldn't decide on what to say. In the end, he didn't say anything at all. She felt his hand on her arm, a steady pressure by her elbow, but by the time she looked up he was already walking away.

a.n. my tumblr is bananannabeth and i have a skater!percy tag if you'd like to check out the inspiration for this / follow the fic there.