Chapter One: Love

Summary: Annabeth contemplates her feelings for Percy.

Note: To the people who are stumbling onto this story for the first time, please read the update at the bottom. Thanks!

Well, it seems to me that the best relationships, the ones that last, are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with. - Gillian Anderson

Of course, she hadn't wanted to fall in love with him.

It had just...happened, without a reasonable explanation. Annabeth liked knowing things, so it bothered her something horrible that she couldn't pin her finger on a valid reason why this had happened to her, of all people. Athena, the no-nonsense goddess of wisdom and battle as well as Annabeth's mother, was not happy, and Annabeth didn't blame her. Annabeth herself would be upset if her daughter fell in love with someone like him.

That being said, there was definitely something different about him. Unlike most of the other people in Annabeth's life, he had stuck around. Countless times he had made her laugh when she was down, offered his shoulder for her to cry on, and even saved her life. He was her best friend.

But he was also rash. Impulsive. Potentially dangerous. And also a dimwit, as her mother liked to point out. "Certainly not a worthy match for a daughter of mine," she'd said.

Annabeth only half-listened to her mother though. Annabeth herself knew Percy more than her mother ever would. Despite his flaws, he was a good person. He was willing to sacrifice himself for you, even if it meant destroying the world. She'd seen him at his weakest, and even when he wanted to give up so badly, he always found a reason to keep going. Sure, he was a little annoying. A little insensitive. But Annabeth was able to see past all that and love him anyways. Besides, Percy wouldn't be Percy if he didn't have some issues.

Love. It was such a weird thing to say, even to herself. But no matter how much she tried to not think that way, she still thought of how she would sometimes catch herself staring into his beautiful sea-green eyes. Sometimes the wind would blow one of his unruly black locks out of place, and she'd have to sit on her hands to stop herself from reaching up and fixing it. And other times she would catch herself just listening to the sound of his laugh, wishing she could record that moment in her brain and replay it again and again.

There was no denying it anymore. She was in love. And the simple act of admitting it to herself seemed to take a weight off of her shoulders.

She was in love.

A/N: This has been lying dormant on my computer for a few months, and today I finally decided to post it. (: I was going to try to wait until I finished my other projects (Blast From the Past / New Kids in School), but that will most likely take awhile. So, here it is! This will probably be updated a little faster then the rest, since I come up with this type of thing pretty easily and I don't really have to think of a plot. So I hope you liked it (:

Oh, and reviews would be nice. (;

Update 9/3/2011: Wow, so it's been about a year and a half since I originally posted this story. I feel like I have to make some sort of note here acknowledging the fact that my writing style has kind of changed since then. If this is the first time that you've read this story, don't get turned off by the total mushiness that's running rampant throughout the first few chapters. It gets a little less atrocious later on. Seriously. (But if you happen to be into mushiness and gushiness, don't worry. There'll be some of that too.)

Yeah, I just felt like I had to say something because after rereading this story it occurred to me how icky it is in the beginning. But I'm too lazy to rewrite anything. Le sigh.

Okay, bye now.