Title: Do Not Pass Go.
Author: justice incarnate.
Word Count: 2,532.
Summary: Percy wonders why Annabeth started crying. They were only playing Monopoly. He also wonders why she kissed him. (Percy/Annabeth. Oneshot.)
Disclaimer: I own a Monopoly game...But I don't own the rest. ):
A/N: Setting; Before The Last Olympian, after Battle of the Labyrinth.

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There was absolutely nothing to do. And not the normal kind of nothing I was used to. The kind of nothing that turned into something. The kind of nothing that ended up becoming a madcap adventure for procuring a lightning bolt, or a quest into the perilous sea of monsters, or a dangerous weave through the labyrinth. The world seemed to be in no mortal danger (other than the regular danger). This was the kind of nothing that started with nothing and stayed that way.

So Annabeth and I decided to play Monopoly.

We were by the lake, but no one else was around us. Grover was off with Juniper, the entire Ares cabin was in Armory, the Hephaestus cabin were at archery, and the Hermes cabin were in arts and crafts. Every other cabin just kind of mulled around in the strawberry fields, or in the stables, or anywhere else. So Annabeth and I were left alone with some time to kill before dinner, and an ancient-looking Monopoly game.

When I tell you this game was ancient-looking, trust me. It was ancient-looking. We'd found it in the game room in the Big House, where we also considered playing Yahtzee, Clue, or Sorry. But this one really caught my eye out of all the available board games (some I'd never even heard of.) It was shoved on a high shelf way back in the corner, but somehow I noticed it. It was covered in a thick layer of dust and looked as if it had been untouched since the 1700s. After giving Annabeth a boost (unwillingly), she'd brought it down and we examined it.

I thought it was the first Monopoly game ever made. That's how old it looked. And all the pieces, usually shiny, were dull and looked a hundred years old. Seriously, Chiron was probably only a thousand when this game came out, and that's saying something. We skeptically and mutually agreed that we'd be play this, and we dragged it down to the lake. "It would be nice to play near the water," Annabeth had said, and I didn't disagree. The water was my friend.

So here we were. Playing Monopoly. Or at least, getting ready to play. I'd chosen the race car and Annabeth chose the thimble. And now we were arguing about who was going to be the banker.

"I will," Annabeth said. "Naturally, I will because I'm the daughter of Athena. Therefore-"

"Therefore what?" I cried, cutting her off. She glared at me. I don't think she liked being interrupted very much. "I'll bet you didn't know I'm actually pretty good at math." I was actually lying through my teeth. I wasn't terrible at it, but I wasn't good. I fell in the average category, meaning I got by with C's.

"You're good at math?" she asked incredulously.

"I'm offended that you thought I wasn't," I told her, mock-hurt. I would have been surprised too. For as long as she'd known me, we'd never discussed my arithmetic skills, but I think it was a known thing between us that I wasn't the best.

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you."

"Fine!" I exclaimed. "Don't believe me! But I think it'd be best for me to be the banker."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously. "So you can cheat and slip yourself some more money?"

I felt myself blush, 'cause...that was exactly what I was planning on doing. I shook my head emphatically. "No, of course not. But you might-"

"Excuse me," she said, rising. She marched closer to me (though it wasn't much marching. We were only about two feet away from each other.) and towered over me threateningly. With the sun behind her, she looked just like a silhouette, and I swallowed nervously (and not just because I was scared.) "I would never cheat, Seaweed Brain. Never ever ever!"

She looked like she was dangerously close to kicking my face in, so I held my hands up innocently, as if suggesting a truce. "Hey, I don't think you'd ever cheat, Annabeth. I was just, you know, joking..." I said lamely.

Her expression wavered, and she looked like she was considering the whole kicking-Percy's-face-in thing. Then, her shoulder sagged slightly, and she turned to go back to her original seat. We set up the board in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Except for all the times we accidentally brushed each other while setting up. That was a little uncomfortable, whether in a good way or bad way, I couldn't tell.

I looked up at her, feeling my mouth go dry as I did so. Annabeth had always been cute - even when I barely knew her, I thought so. There was just something about her, like this kind of glow that surrounded her. But now, she'd grown into her skin a little more. She looked more define. More like a woman. And seriously beautiful.

Seriously.

My suggestion for anyone who ever meets a girl like Annabeth: run. Girls like her will just leave you all twisted and confused inside. I know from experience.

She looked up and her eyes met mine. I tried not to do or say anything stupid as we stared at each other.

"So...you're the banker?" I asked, and yes, it was asked stupidly. I mentally slapped myself on the forehead.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Percy," she enunciated the words slowly, like maybe I was a little mental. Though, at the moment, I kind of felt like it.

So we began to play.

But the last time I'd played Monopoly was like when I was nine. So I didn't remember the rules at all. Annabeth yelled at me several times, always starting with, "No, that's not how you do it, Percy." And each time, she'd sigh exasperatedly and roll her eyes toward the sky in an Oh-Zeus-why-me? manner. Can you blame me, though? It wasn't like I played the game every weekend.

But it wasn't exactly boring. It was much better than watching Clarisse argue with one of the Apollo kids. And whenever I did something right, Annabeth would smile at me like I was finally getting it. Then I'd mess up again and she'd give me that look and say, "No, that's not how you do it, Percy."

I rolled the dice again and got seven. I moved my piece one, two, three, four, five, six, seven spaces and landed on Vermont Avenue. I glanced up at Annabeth, inquiring, "Okay, so do I own this road, now?"

Annabeth sighed and looked toward the sky. "No, that's not how you do it, Percy. I've explained this to you a million times. You have to buy the property. With your Monopoly money. Then you own it."

"Ohhhhhh," I said. "Got it." I grabbed a fistful of money and shoved it at her. "Here, I'd like to buy it, please."

She shook her head wearily. "I sometimes wonder about you, Percy."

I frowned. Just because I wasn't a pro-Monopoly player doesn't mean there was anything wrong with me. It meant that I preferred video games over board games. That's perfectly healthy for a boy, especially a boy my age.

And there is nothing wrong with playing Call of Duty.

I don't care what anybody says.

"Alright, now what I'm doing wrong?"

"Everything!" she burst out. "Honestly, Seaweed Brain, your mind can't be all seaweed. Use it."

"Just 'cause my mother isn't the goddess of Wisdom doesn't give you the right to insult me. Now I don't want the road."

"Fine, don't get the stupid road! I don't care!" She snatched up the dice angrily, before throwing them back down to the board with enough force to put a hole through it. I flinched, because I was sure Annabeth was imagining the board as my face, and the dice as rocks.

She got a ten and shoved her piece forward several spaces, before landing on-

"Hah!" I cried triumphantly. "Go directly to jail! Do not pass go! Do not collect two hundred dollars!" That, at least, was a rule I knew.

She frowned at the thimble on the "Go to jail" space, though she did not move it at all. Her eyes were glittering in a strange way.

I stared at her, waiting for her to move the thimble to the jail square, though it just sat there, as she gazed at it. I wondered what she could have possibly been thinking.

"Annabeth," I said carefully. "You have to go to ja-"

She held up a hand. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she said thickly, then sniffled-

-And burst into tears. My eyes widened in surprise as she sobbed and bowed her head. I was so caught off guard, I had no clue what to do, except stupidly and rudely ask, "Why are you crying?"

She glared up at me, and even though she was vulnerable and crying, she still looked deadly. I gulped.

She looked about ready to spit a snappy retort, but then she snapped her mouth shut and bowed her head again, quietly crying. Still in shock, I got to my knees and shuffled forward slightly to put my hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, I didn't mean to make you cry-"

"Percy! Shut up!" Her voice was fierce, and I backed up a bit, giving her room. I didn't get very far, though, because she suddenly grabbed a fistful of my shirt and pulled me down.

And then she kissed me.

I squeaked in surprise, my heart melting into a pile of goo. I felt like I too would melt with it, and become nothing but a puddle of Percy on the ground.

Annabeth smelled really good. I know what you're thinking: here Annabeth and I are, lips to lips, mouth to mouth - she's kissing me! and all I could think about was how she smelt.

But trust me - she smelt good. I couldn't really describe it, because I'm not a girl (any girl would find the perfect words to match the scent) but it was very floral but also sweet, like vanilla and cinnamon.

Her kiss was making me dizzy, and it didn't help that she smelled so delectable. I wondered if she always smelt like this, because the first time she kissed me at Mount St. Helen's, I never really noticed.

Then again, that kiss was a total of a second and a half. And I was too shell-shocked too even notice.

But now I did notice. I noticed everything. I noticed the softness in her lips, I noticed the way she kept sniffling, and the way I could feel the wetness of her cheeks against my skin.

But most of all, I noticed how I was sitting stock-still and not doing anything. It'd been maybe twenty seconds already, and I hadn't done anything, and she hadn't pulled away yet.

So, nervously, I puckered my own lips and began to kiss back. I didn't really have much experience in the kissing department, and I wondered how awkwardly amateur I was. But to be fair, from what I knew about Annabeth, she wasn't all that experienced either.

Annabeth didn't seem to mind my newbie kissing. She kissed back more feverishly than before, tilting her head to the side. She pressed so hard into me, I could feel her teeth through her lips. It was in that moment that I realized she wasn't thinking clearly.

I pulled back, dazed and mad at myself. I could've carried on just kissing her, carried on feeling that happiness the touching of her lips brought to me, but on an impulse, I pulled back and was now looking at her confused face.

She blinked, seeming to pull her head out of the clouds, and peered at me with a look of confusion washing over her face. She was still crying, small sniffles breaking the silence as she struggled to breathe.

We stared at each other, my heart beating too fast too be healthy. Her cheeks were extremely flushed and I couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or because she was so upset.

Her gaze did not waver, and I tried to keep my eyes on hers, but they were so probing and I had to look away. The silence was thick, and I could feel myself blushing brightly.

"The reason I'm crying," she said, chocking back a sob, "is because when Luke, Thalia, and I were on the run, Luke stole the game for us so we'd be occupied when we weren't being hunted down."

Stole the game? I wanted to say, but then I remembered. Oh yeah, Luke was Hermes's kid. I shouldn't have been surprised by the stealing thing.

"We used to play this game all the time, but my wisdom never helped me win. And I'd always land on the 'Go to jail' square. And Luke would always say, 'Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars'. And when you said that, you sounded just like him, and it just..."

I nodded my head at her, letting her know I understood.

She shook her head, sucking in a deep breath at the same time. "Anyway," she said. "There it is. That's why I cried."

"Annabeth," I said, "I didn't know and I'm really-"

"No, don't apologize. You couldn't have known. It's okay, I'm fine."

"Clearly," I tell her, "you're not fine. I mean, you just-" I stopped suddenly, feeling the blush that was already on my cheeks brighten to a crimson red. I look away again, but I could feel her eyes on me.

"Percy," is all she said, and I swung my eyes up to look at her again, my heart rate tripling. She smiled, and that was it. She smiled and gave me that look like, 'Sometimes, you are so dumb' and that was it, before she looked away.

She picked up her thimble and moved it the jail square. Then she looked up at me and said with that stupefying simplicity of hers, that simplicity she can have even when things are far beyond simple,

"Your turn, Seaweed Brain."