"Councilman Harrison's office. Can I help you?" Annabeth said, before looking into the greenest pair of eyes she had ever seen.

The boy standing before Annabeth was impeccably dressed in a stiff suit and a monogrammed tie, but from the way he was standing and staring and smiling (oh god, the way he was smiling), he looked more like he belonged on the beach in nothing but a pair of swim trunks.

Annabeth mentally chastised herself. The image of the boy before her in nothing but swim trunks was not an image she needed. Wanted, maybe. But needed, most certainly not.

The boy looked at her intently, and Annabeth prayed he wouldn't notice the deep blush blooming on her face. After a few seconds of awkward, mutual staring, he cleared his throat.

"Percy Jackson, here for your 1:30 appointment," Annabeth blurted before he could say anything.

He drew his eyebrows together. "You've - you've seen me before, then?"

Annabeth felt unprotected from his gaze. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried her best to look like she was cool and collected, like she was in control. Like she was Annabeth Chase.

Even though her brain felt like it was a bundle of frayed wire, she smirked. "Your name is on the senator's calendar and your initials are on your stupid tie." She gestured towards the tie in question with a nod of her head. "Monogrammed, really? Is the amount of money in your trust fund sewn on the back?"

Percy blushed, and Annabeth tried his best not to find it sweet. Tried and failed.

"It's actually Dad's." he explained. "You know, Poseidon Jackson?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I know who Poseidon Jackson is."

Poseidon Jackson was one of the biggest players in Washington. A business mogul and the owner of the world's largest desalination, a donation from him could mean the difference between becoming a secretary or a senator.

"Of course you do," he said sheepishly. "Hard not to know." Percy coughed. "Well, I guess I'll just -" He gestured towards the chairs lined up by the wall. "wait for the councilman."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "I'm not surprised. This is a waiting room, Jackson."

"Yeah." He drops into a seat and grips the sides.

Watching his nervousness, Annabeth softened. It wasn't his fault that Annabeth felt dizzy just looking at him, it wasn't his fault that listening to his voice was like swimming in the ocean on a warm day, it wasn't his fault she needed to protect herself from getting hurt again.

She thought about Luke's face the last time she saw it, the last time she would ever see it, and shuddered.

"Hey," she said without thinking. She rarely did anything without thinking. Annabeth cursed herself under her breath. "I didn't really mean any of that stuff. I was just teasing you."

Percy's lifted his gaze from the ground in surprise. "I know that," he said. "But I still hate thinking about my dad's money. I mean, he didn't really know about me until I was twelve. I lived with my mom before then, and we didn't have a lot of cash, so money is just really -" He scrunched his nose. "I don't know, weird."

Suddenly, his head shot back up and he was blushing slightly.

"Sorry, that was probably too personal for a first meeting. You're just so - I'm usually way better at small talk," Percy assured her with a wince. "I swear I'm better than this most of the time."

Annabeth had assumed as much. After all, most of the people that came through Councilman Harrison's office could practically weaponize pleasant smiles and casual banter about world affairs.

"It's fine, it doesn't matter anyway," she said. "You came to talk to the councilman, not to charm his intern. I'm not exactly important."

Percy frowned at her. "Of course you're important."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Again, there's no need to charm the councilman's intern."

With a shake of his head, Percy went on. "I've met countless politicians and celebrities and businessmen, and I can say with certainty that you're more important than all of them," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Annabeth was stunned. Percy just called her one of the most important people in the world as if he was telling her what he ate for dinner last night. She opened her mouth to shoot back a response, but no sound came out.

Luckily, Percy didn't seem to expect one. "So how did you come to work for Councilman Harrison? You seem a little too young and female and smart to be part of typical voter demographic."

After Annabeth remembered what words were and processed his question, she snorted and looked at the life size portrait of the councilman hanging across from her. Councilman Harrison was famous for being the hero of angry old men everywhere. "I have to get some experience in Washington somehow, even if he's not exactly my ideal politician. I mean, you're only here because he dedicates almost all his time to kissing your dad's feet."

Annabeth was silently glad that he was such a brown-nose, though. Thanks to Councilman Harrison's shameless begging, she got to meet Percy Jackson, and Percy was - well, he wasn't so bad.

Annabeth glanced at Percy and noted his grimace, still embarrassed by his father's influence.

"Sorry," Annabeth said quickly. "It's not your fault. Harrison's just kind of a phony leader."

"Like the King of Ooo," Percy murmured under his breath to the floor.

"Exactly like the Kind of Ooo," Annabeth nodded in agreement.

Shocked, Percy's head shot up to gape at Annabeth. Then his face lit up with joy.

"You watch Adventure Time?" Percy asked eagerly, like Annabeth was a superhero and he had just discovered the secret identity beneath her alter-ego.

"Adventure Time, come on grab your friends…" Annabeth sung in response with a smile.

"We're going to very - distant lands," Percy half shouted. He was so delighted Annabeth almost felt like she had to look away, as if turning her eyes away from the sun.

"Now I have to know everything. What's your favorite episode? What do you think about the Ice King's story arc? Who's your favorite character?"

"'What Was Missing', phenomenally well written, Bubblegum," Annabeth replied, listing the questions with her fingers.

"Of course you like Bubblegum," Percy smiled to himself, as if remembering an inside joke. "Smart, leaderly, beautiful. You guys are almost the same person."

Blushing, Annabeth opened her mouth to protest, but Percy cut her off.

"I never would have taken you for a fan of Adventure Time," he said, beaming.

Shrugging in response, Annabeth answered, "I wouldn't have taken anyone older than seven for a fan either. And yet here we've found each other despite the odds, here we are."

"Yep," Percy echoed, smile still etched on his face. "Here we are."

A silence settled in the room, and Percy's smile faded. He was staring at Annabeth again, in a way that was almost -

"It's 1:30, I'm going to go tell Harrison you're here." Annabeth stood up and practically ran to Councilman Harrison's door.

She couldn't do this. On the chance Percy returned her feelings, she would break her heart all over again. She didn't want that.

In the reality where Percy almost certainly didn't return her feelings, she would break her heart in new ways she hadn't realized were possible. She couldn't stand that.

So she wouldn't ever let herself know how Percy felt. Put herself in a Schrodinger's cat scenario where she was both dead and alive. It was better than just being dead.

"Sir?" Annabeth called into Councilman Harrison's office.

He looked up from his laptop and frowned.

"I'm extremely busy right now," he said, gesturing to a stack of papers covered in fine print, "so I assume what you're about to say is incredibly important."

Instinctively, Annabeth's eyes flicked over to the councilman's papers.

"Katia purred in pleasure as he licked the beating vein in Jared's neck," she read. She scrunched up her face in confusion. "Sir, are you writing-"

"Well, don't read it," Councilman Harrison snapped, reaching over and covering his papers with his arms. "It's, like, really bad and I don't think you would enjoy it," he muttered.

Annabeth blinked. "I'm, uh, I'm sure it's fine, sir." She coughed. "But, anyway - Percy Jackson - he's here, if you want to meet with him."

"Oh!" Councilman Harrison seemed to light up. "Yes, bring him in, sweetheart."

Annabeth swallowed down a growl and nodded her head. "Absolutely, sir."

Once Percy was in the councilman's office, she returned to her desk, put her head in her hands, and let out an exasperated sigh.

Love was awful. Love was scientifically proven to decrease logical thought processes. Annabeth wanted to replace her heart with another brain. Annabeth wanted to turn back time and make Luke stay. Annabeth wanted to prevent herself from breaking down and crying over another broken promise.

Mostly, though, she just wanted to see Percy's smile again.