A/N: Very...honeymoonish stage. Fluffy. You've been warned.

"Percy, you got into a fight?"

He sighed, looking at Paul. The older man gave him a helpless look, like 'What was I supposed to do? I'm married to her.'

"Some guys were insulting Annabeth."

Paul looked towards Sally just as she was opening her mouth. "They were being rude, Sally. I admit Percy took it a little far, but he was just standing up for her."

"And now he has a week of detention!"

Percy looked at his plate. "I'm sorry."

Sighing, Sally put her hand on Percy's shoulder. "I know, Percy. And you were right to stick up for her. So, do you have homework?"

"Kind of. I'm gonna go start."

He kissed his mom on the cheek and put his plate in the sink before walking back towards his room. His homework was digging through his bag to find a drachma, creating a rainbow, and IMing Annabeth. He had grown accustomed to seeing her everyday. Kissing her everyday.

"Oh, Iris, accept my offering. Annabeth Chase, New York City."

When the image flickered into sight, Percy couldn't contain his smile. She was lying on her bed, laptop on her lap, hair tied up messily.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she said, smiling. Percy noticed she was wearing a grey T-shirt that was maybe three sizes too big and sweats. When she saw the bruise on his cheek, she frowned. "Already, Percy? Who'd you get in a fight with?"

"He got the picture of you from my backpack and said...some not very nice things about you. I wasn't responsible for my actions after that. I thought you'd be proud I was...defending your honor."

She arched her eyebrows. "My honor? What exactly did he say?"

Percy shook his head, silently insisting he not be asked to repeat it.

"Come on, Percy. I can handle it."

"I know. I'm worried about the other guy. If you kill him, we'll have problems."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but let the subject drop. "So, what's up?"

Relaxing back against his pillows, Percy told her the events of the day. He'd gotten a flyer for the swim team, which he would be allowed to participate in if he didn't get another detention this semester, and the girl at lunch who had brought her friends to sit with him.

She frowned.

"What?" Percy asked.

"You're so oblivious."

"Um..."

"They were flirting with you, Percy."

"What? With me? Why?"

Annabeth sighed. Her boyfriend could be so thick sometimes. He was dumb, but well muscled and handsome. She wasn't surprised that girls had started flocking towards him.

"Well, come on, Percy. You have this certain...thing now that you've saved the world. Besides, you are pretty hot."

"And here I was all excited that I had friends," he grumbled. Then her words hit him. "Wait. You think I'm hot, Wise Girl?"

She blushed and closed her computer, setting it to the side. Her arms wrapped around her knees. "Don't let it go to your head."

"Well, if it matters, I think you're..." Percy swallowed tightly. Annabeth held her breath. "Um, well, what I mean is... You're, and I'm, and the way..." He sighed. "You're gonna kill me one day."

With a smile, Annabeth said, "Why don't you just say it, Seaweed Brain?"

He met her gaze evenly, although his heart was hammering. "You're...really beautiful." They both blushed. "And...is it degrading to a woman to call her hot?"

"'Beautiful,' 'pretty,' and 'gorgeous' are preferred."

"Okay then. You're all three of those wrapped up one body."

Annabeth blushed deeper. "So, you're gonna go out for swimming?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

Annabeth kept to herself the thought that that meant she would see her delicious boyfriend in a Speedo. She shook herself of the thought, saving it for a later date.

"How's your mom?" she asked.

"Good. She wishes you would have asked to stay with us and gone to Goode. She thinks you're a good influence. Paul likes you, too, what little he knows about you."

"So they wouldn't mind if I came up there on Saturday and stole you away for a movie?"

He grinned. "No, I don't think they would. My treat."

Annabeth winked at her boyfriend. "It's a date."

They talked for another hour before Annabeth's roommate interrupted them. She blew him a kiss before waving her hand through the IM.

Percy removed his shirt and jeans and got under his blankets, but he wasn't tired. He stared up at the dark ceiling, thinking about her. In four days they would see each other again. He would kiss her until he couldn't breathe and then they'd kiss again. Then it hit him. His first date. But then again, how different was it from the times they had spent together? They weren't awkward with each other, but anything could happen when you were nervous. So Percy told himself not to be nervous.

When had that ever worked for him?

0000000000

Annabeth was looking at her reflection in the mirror before the thought stuck her. She always wore jeans or shorts, T-shirt or tank tops. It wasn't that she wasn't comfortable in her own skin, it was just that that was how she was comfortable. She didn't like skirts too short or too tight and those seemed to be the only skirts made. Dresses weren't terrible, but she didn't want something too fancy. Just something white, simple, and...comfortable. But what if Percy was getting tired of her blue jeans and T-shirts? The thought seemed silly to her, but then again, so had the thought that Seaweed Brain would like her as more than a friend. Anything was possible.

She picked at the end of her plain white T and frowned. Maybe she should ask her roommate for a dress.

"Incoming Iris Message from Perseus Jackson, Manhattan." She spun around.

"I accept," she muttered.

"Hey, Wise Girl," he said. He was sitting at the kitchen table, hair a mess, smile planted firmly on his lips. "Whatcha doing?"

"Getting ready. Um...what are you gonna wear?"

"Jeans and a blue T-shirt. Why?"

She smiled. "Oh, no reason. I'm gonna leave soon. So I'll see you in thirty?"

Percy nodded, blushed a bit and said, "I'll be waiting, beautiful."

When her heart had calmed down, she pulled on her jacket and walked out the door. Who cared about dresses? Jeans made her butt look great. Smirking at the thought, she hailed a cab and gave him Percy's address.

As buildings and people rushed past her, she contemplated...Percy. What was it she liked about him? She liked how protective he was. Not overly so, giving her enough room to take care of herself, but always jumping in when she needed him. She liked how real he was. He'd been through everything with her-had stuck by her side when the boy she thought she loved betrayed her family, her home-and had never judged her. She liked that he was thick sometimes. When she had been trying to make him realize her feelings, she hated it, but when other girls flirted with him, batted their eyelashes, touched his biceps admiringly... Stupid Aphrodite girls... It made her realize that he only had eyes for her. She liked that he was passionate about everything he did. He loved the people around him, cared for them so deeply, and always tried his hardest. She liked the way he kissed. Hungrily, but slowly, desperately and deeply, like he was scared this was all a dream and he would wake up any moment. She liked how he hugged her. She liked how he looked at her. She liked how he made her laugh. She liked the way he looked, the way he dressed, his eyes, and the way his hair fell in front of them sometimes, and how he barely noticed it when she gave him one of her pleading glances that-in her opinion-so clearly said what she was thinking and how badly she wanted him to kiss her or hug her or just...be there.

He was everything she wanted, and everything she had.

As she knocked on his door, she was thinking about their kiss. Kissing Percy was one of those things in life that you wanted to think about whenever you could because it brought up so many good feelings. The way his lips felt against hers, the way he tasted, the way his arms were either securely around her or loose as he tangled his fingers in her hair. They had been dating for two weeks and she already had a long list of everything she liked about him. What did that say about her?

She couldn't dwell on that for long because he was answering the door. Her heart thumped.

Percy nearly drooled when he saw her. How had he ever survived a whole school year without her? She was gorgeous. And, jeez, she was wearing lip gloss.

"Annabeth," he said, smiling. "You look...great. Wanna come inside?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "But don't you wanna get to the movie?"

"My mom would never forgive me if I didn't make you say hello."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but smiled and stepped inside the apartment. Paul and Sally were sitting at the kitchen table, Paul reading the newspaper, Sally typing on her laptop. They both looked up when she entered.

"Annabeth!" Sally said, grinning. "How nice to see you, dear."

"Hi, Mrs. Blofis."

"Hey, Annabeth," Paul said. "What are you two doing today?"

Percy grabbed his jacket from a chair, pulling it on. "Movie," he told them. "And we have to be going." He grabbed her hand. "Bye."

As they stumbled out the door, Annabeth grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop.

"What?" he asked.

Without answering him, she twisted her fingers in his hair and a slow smile grew on his lips. She kissed him and he cupped her head with one hand as the other arm wrapped around her waist. Oh, she loved kissing him.

Percy's brain was melting, his heart was thumping, and he never wanted it to stop. But when Annabeth pulled away, so did he. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Strawberry," he muttered.

"What?"

"Y-your lip gloss. Strawberry."

She blushed. Going on her tiptoes, she kissed him once more, slowly, and ran her tongue hesitantly across his bottom lip.

"Gods, you're gonna kill me," he whispered.

"You...had some on your m-mouth."

"Come on. Let's get out of here before we miss the movie."

They held hands as they walked out of the building and all the way to the theatre. Inside, Percy was wondering if the thing about girls and horror movies was true. Maybe for other girls; but Annabeth had lived through...a lot. He doubted a ghost would scare her.

They held hands during the movie and used their other hands to take popcorn. Percy could barely focus on the movie. Sometime in the middle, Annabeth had rested her head on his shoulder. And the moment could not have been any more perfect.

And then they woke up.

Percy sighed. He didn't think he'd ever get the vision of kissing Annabeth like that out of his head. He'd have to make the vision a reality on Saturday.

Groaning, Annabeth glanced at her watch and realized she needed to shower and get dressed in her uniform and... Well, she had a lot to do before class, and a lot to do before her first date. First of all, she needed to find strawberry lip gloss...

A/N: I know it probably wasn't very realistic, but my first date wasn't technically a date because all of my friends were there, too, so I needed to come up with something…and so I decided to make them dream it. Like it, love it, hate it? Review and tell me. But if you say you hate it, I'll cry…

Love,

E. M. Zeray