Title: A is for Ample
[Summary: Percy and Annabeth, they were best friends, and that was always enough. As we watch them grow up together, feelings change, but some things will always remain the same. In the end, it was more than enough—with a little leftover. Percabeth. One shot.]

Pairing: Percy x Annabeth
Word Count: 6,400+

Cover Thanks: Thank you to burstinglight and burdge on tumblr for the drawings of Percy and Annabeth that I've used for my cover. The rest of it I did in Photoshop, nothing too exciting for this one.
Thank Yous: Thanks to ChildOfWisdom for making me aware of the contest, and thank you to TheGreekGoddessOfPencils for creating the contest thus making me write this oneshot. And also, thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and supported me on any and all of my fanfiction stories. Without the support, I wouldn't be here (writing fanfic that is).

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO because I'm not Rick Riordan… My writing style's different, anyways :/.
Author's Note: I wrote this story differently than I normally write; the sentences were a tad bit shorter than normal, not as much detail as well. It's also written in third person which means I don't give as much detail in the character's thoughts; granted, it's the omniscient third person. I just hope you guys like it, and this was originally written back in April of 2012 for the contest. So it has now passed in case any of you guys were wondering.

A is for Ample

Ample (noun) – more than enough: as much or as many as required, usually with some left over;

the room is more than ample.

~.~

Percy Jackson had never seen anything great about the town he lived in. Even at the ripe age of five, there hadn't been much there for him to like. After his best friend, Kat, moved away two years ago, he had been at a loss for what to do. Sure, they had only been three years old then, but he met Kat when they were only a wee month old. But being five, he wasn't even capable of writing a letter to her, and he absolutely hated talking to people on the phone. So without Kat, he was left alone to swing on their normal swings, their normal spot.

The gravel kicked up under the five-year-old's converse until they reached the wood chips of the playground. There was the swing set, and there was a girl sitting in the swing that he always occupied. Walking up with determination, he puffed up his chest, wanting to seem like he was at least seven, "Hey, that's my swing."

Grey eyes looked up at him quizzically, piercing the sea green of Percy's, "Your swing?" She saw no name on the swing; there was no one else on the swing when she got there. So, it was a free swing, and now she was the one on that swing.

"Yeah," Percy stated questioningly. Hadn't he just said it was his swing? He was sure he had, but maybe the mass of blond curls weren't allowing for her to hear him correctly.

"Oh, well I'm sorry," she paused, cocking her head to the side as if to get a better view of him, "but I'm swinging here now." Why should she have to move for another kid who didn't even look like he was bigger than her – not that the lanky girl would have moved otherwise.

"But it's my birthday," Percy whined, just wanting the swing back. He wasn't lying, though; it was his birthday, August 18th.

"Happy Birthday," the girl kept swinging, much to Percy's chagrin.

Sitting on the swing, the swing that was normally Kat's, he pumped his legs, trying to get as high as the girl next to him. He watched as she looked determined to swing high enough to touch the sky; he could never swing that high. And even at five years old, Percy stared at that little girl, feeling total and complete awe. "I like your hair," he spoke over the wind, well what he thought was wind at the time but was really just him cutting through the air on his swing. "It's like a princess's curls."

"Thanks," she looked over at him, as if measuring him up. Percy knew that if she really wanted, she could take him. "I like your eyes. They remind me of the sea." She smiled slightly, showing two missing front teeth. Percy hadn't even lost his first tooth yet, even with the number of apples he bit into, hoping that at least one would fall out.

"My dad's a sailor," he grinned, remembering how his dad would always take him on his boat every day, when he was younger. "But, he didn't come back last time when he went on his boat." The toothy grin faltered, turning into a frown. He missed his dad, so much; so much so that he no longer wanted to swing. Jumping off from the swing, he started to walk, intending to go home, "See ya."

He was only ten steps away when he heard footsteps coming towards him, "Wait!" Turning back, Percy met the grey eyes of the girl who took his swing. What could she want? "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, but you don't look too strange," she stood in front of him now, a couple inches taller than him.

"Thanks?" He wasn't sure whether or not to take that as a compliment or an insult. In fact, he wasn't too sure about a lot of things with this girl.

She held her hand out to him, to which he looked at it as if it had four legs and a head. "I'm Annabeth, Annabeth Chase."

...

Percy heard the pounding on the tree house door, mumbling something about needing a doorbell before swinging it open. He opened his mouth to say something about how he didn't want to eat his vegetables, until he saw the watery eyes of a shaking blond girl, "Annabeth?"

"M-My mo-mom-my," the blond stuttered, trying to get it out before she started to breakdown again, "ju-just… She just… She left forever." The girl finished, pushing past Percy to walk into the tree house, wiping away the dried tears. She didn't like to have the tear tracks be a reminder of how she was weak. She wasn't weak.

Closing the door, Percy turned to her as she sat down on the small blue sofa in his tree house. He had never seen her cry, and it scared him to see the salty water start falling from her eyes again, "You mean she just drove away?" He took the seat next to her, placing the plate of blue cookies in his lap.

Sniffling, Annabeth peered at him through the water in her eyes. She wasn't sure if he would understand. They had never been great friends, but they were friends nonetheless. And not knowing who else to go to, she went to his tree house, hoping to find him. "My daddy said she went to Heaven."

Again scaring Percy, the blond let more sobs wrack through her body. Not sure of what to do, he put his arm around her shoulder, patting her arm awkwardly, "That's where my dad is." He paused, thinking of his dad being gone from him but then gazed at Annabeth and grinned, "Now your mommy and my daddy can be friends, like us."

At first gazing at him with widen eyes as if he were crazy, a small smile spread across Annabeth's face. "Maybe they'll be…" She trailed off, as if embarrassed as she hung her head down.

"Maybe they'll be what?" Percy gazed at the girl, patting her arm once more. "You know you can tell me anythin', Annabeth." He would always be there to guard her secrets like she was there for him when people picked on him for having blue food.

"Maybe," she gazed into his sea-green eyes, before looking away, "Maybe they'll be best friends." She frowned, letting her hands play with the small string that was coming out of her shorts. Her mom had given her those shorts, a light grey that matched her eyes during the hottest, summer days.

The dark haired boy thought about it for a second, wondering if his dad had ever had a best friend before. His father had never mentioned having one, so he thought that surely his father had missed out on having a friendship like Percy had with Kat, his old best friend. "Yeah, your mommy could be his first best friend. My daddy's never had a best friend before." He liked the idea of Annabeth's mom being his dad's best friend.

"I've never had a best friend," Annabeth sighed, pulling at the string from her shorts a little. Sure, she had her fair share of friends, but she never had found that one person who could and would always be there for her.

"Oh," Percy frowned, wanting to do anything in the world to make the seven-year-old girl next to him smile. "Why not?"

"'Cause I've always moved and stuff, and… people never really liked me." She mumbled the last part, not wanting her latest friend, Percy, to hear her say it. "They all say I'm weird 'cause I'm smart and all."

"I like you," he grinned at her, him being the one, this time, to have his front teeth missing. "And hey," he scratched his head, thinking about what seemed like a very hard math problem to him, "I don't have a best friend now. You don't have a best friend. So why don't we be best friends, just like our parents are gonna be now?" It sounded good to him; this girl wasn't too strange, and she did beat up those other guys that bothered him. Well, the meaning of beating up to a second grader was the equivalent of taking their pudding and threatening not to give it back if they kept it up.

Annabeth didn't reply, looking forward but seeming distant. It made Percy nervous. What if she didn't want to be his best friend? He had really come to like this girl, but no, nowhere near loving her because she was a girl. You don't love a girl, unless they're your mom when you're a boy in second grade. Fiddling with a blue cookie on the plate, Percy waited, wishing she would answer already. "Sure," she smiled timidly, not sure of what to do now that she had a best friend.

"Well," Percy thought, wondering what they should do to make it official. They had to make it official – they couldn't just be best friends just 'cause they said they were. Looking down at the cookies in his plate, he broke one in half, handing her a half. She hesitantly took it, inspecting it under her knowing gaze. "Okay," he began, causing her grey eyes to meet his green, "once we both eat half of the same cookie, we're officially best friends. Okay?"

She nodded, her curls bouncing a little up and down. And on the count of three, they both ate half the cookie, binding their agreement as being best friends.

...

Annabeth frowned at the tv, seeing the horrible special effects play out on the screen in front of her. Of course the boy next to her thought they were the best thing he had ever seen; he was one of the biggest fans of superhero movies that she ever saw. Though for Annabeth, she would have preferred watching something about Greek architecture, really any architecture in general. Now Percy on the other hand, he preferred something along the lines of action, strike that; Percy on the other hand preferred anything with a superhero in it. Not being a huge fan of the shows, Annabeth had recently started to enjoy them – well, she did have to continue to endure them, as long as she and Percy were best friends. He put up with her architecture movies; she put up with his superhero movies.

"That was awesome!" Percy exclaimed, excitement lighting up his eyes from under his mess of hair as he turned towards Annabeth. She, on the other, thought the use of green screen was horrible. "C'mon Annabeth," he stretched out, letting his arm lay on her shoulder, "you gotta agree."

She did not have to agree. "Percy, it was so obviously fake. Maybe if your hair didn't cover your eyes then you could actually see it." Her eyes rolled as the fourth grader next to her flipped the hair that covered his eyes out of his face.

"Yeah, well," he began, leading up to one his infamous comebacks, "your hair covers your eyes, too." He used an index finger to poke the hair that swept across her forehead to cover part of her left eye.

Slapping his hand away, she again rolled her eyes, something that Percy had become accustomed to; she always did that when he made, what she considered, a stupid comment. "I'm a girl, Percy. Girls' hair can cover their eyes. Not boys." She was always right, or at least to Percy, she was always right.

"Are you callin' me a girl, Chase?" His eyes narrowed, but meeting the gaze of his best friend, he couldn't hide the grin on his face. No matter what, that girl would always make him smile – whether or not he liked it.

"No," she laughed slightly, not making that 'no' sound like the truth. "Obviously, you're a boy. You just really need a haircut. But, being a girl is better."

"Is not," Percy contested with another one of his great comebacks.

"Is too," Annabeth began, pushing her mouth to side, a normal thing that she did when she was thinking. "Girls' can do more stuff 'cause we don't have to pretend to be all manly." She paused, making Percy wince as she always did that before delivering the hard blow, "And really, we all know you're not that manly so there's no point in pretending."

No one, not even his best friend said that Percy Jackson wasn't manly. "Yeah well, guys can be superheroes, but girls can only be sidekicks. So, ha," he stuck his tongue at her, knowing that neither of their parents were around to scold him. "So, that makes me Batman and you Robin. I called dibs on Batman."

"Fine," Annabeth huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She did not like being bested, not by anyone. "But, you only get Batman 'cause you didn't play fair and square."

Smirking, Percy stuck his tongue back in his mouth, "Yeah, yeah." The two of them stared back at the screen, Annabeth still sour for being partly bested by her best friend. Percy, on the other hand, was thinking of how much responsibility he had now as Batman. He had to protect all the innocent people out there, starting out with his best friend. "But you know Annabeth, now that I'm Batman and all," she rolled her eyes as he paused, "I gotta protect alotta people. And, I'm gonna need Robin by my side all through it. And when the Joker tries to get one of us, we gotta help each other, alright?"

She nodded, her head cocked to the side, "Alright, sounds good to me."

"But remember," Percy's eyebrows furrowed together, completely serious, "even though I'm a superhero now, you'll always be the number one on my list to save."

...

"Smile for the camera," Sally Jackson told Annabeth and Percy as they grinned with their arms around each other. Starting middle school, they hadn't seen much of each other because of their different homerooms and schedules, but now it was summer. They finally had the time to see each other and simply hang out. Like every normal summer, Percy went to Montauk for the weekend, this time inviting Annabeth to go along – suggestion from his mother. Of course, Percy had no problem with bringing Annabeth along. You have to remember, they were best friends.

Snapping the picture, Sally ushered for them to come over and look at it, shading the camera from the sun. "Percy!" Annabeth laughed, her hand resting on his arm as all three of them leaned over the camera, "You're supposed to smile and have your eyes open. It's really not that hard."

A light blush spread across Percy's face, realizing how he partially ruined the picture by not keeping his eyes open. "Well… Uh," he scratched his head, not sure of a great comeback that could render Annabeth speechless. Heck, he had never been able to come up with something that could leave Annabeth Chase speechless. "We can't all be smart like you… Wise Girl."

"Wise Girl?" Annabeth brought her gaze away from the camera, her grey eyes clouded with thought. "If that's your version of a comeback, then you really are a… Seaweed Brain." She grinned, knowing that she had bested Percy with that nickname.

"Hey, well at least I'm Batman," he puffed his chest out, like he did the first time he saw Annabeth on the swing set.

"You never change," she patted his shoulder, a laugh escaping from her lips. "So, stop puffing out your chest, superhero. And secondly, you're only Batman 'cause you acted like a sexist pig saying that a girl could only be the sidekick – never the superhero." Annabeth rolled her eyes at the dark haired boy next to her.

"Well-"

"Alright you two," Sally interrupted the two of them. "Get back over there, and this time, Percy, keep your eyes open, will ya?" She winked at Annabeth, a small smile splayed across both of their faces. Percy could never win with those two girls around. Granted, they were the girls that Percy cared the most about yet cared the least about losing to; then and again, he also knew he could never win.

Again, Percy put his arm around Annabeth's waist, hers around his shoulders. She was still taller than him, much to Percy's chagrin, so it would have been awkward for him to put his arm around her shoulders. "Annabeth?" He sounded through his teeth, though it came out as more of Annehbeeh.

"Yeah, Percy?" She continued to smile, until Mrs. Jackson snapped the picture. Giving them both the thumbs up, the two best friends finally relaxed their faces, only for the grins to return shortly when they looked at one another.

Swallowing hard, Percy extended his arm out towards her, "Don't move." Of course, Annabeth, being stubborn, decided to look to where Percy was moving his hand, only to see a hairy, black spider, the size of a quarter, on the side of her bathing suit.

Frozen, she stood waiting for Percy to do something—anything—that could possibly help her. Slowly, or what seemed slow to Annabeth, he brushed the spider off of her, ensuring that it was a good distance away from her. When he was sure of it, the serious expression that had been on his face, as he concentrated, turned into a light smile. "Is it gone?" Annabeth asked, shaking slightly.

"Yeah," Percy still had a stern expression on his face amidst the smile, as they stood there, his arm still on her upper ribs. "It's gone," he mumbled quietly, staring intently into her eyes, before dropping his hand.

"Thanks," she looked away from his gaze, feeling Percy's eyes still on her. Running her hands on her arms, she tried to brush off the rest of the nonexistent spiders that she felt crawling all over her.

He grinned, assisting her in pushing off the imaginary spiders, "It's what I'm here for." Lazily, his hand went around her waist as they went back to the beach blanket, "I can't let Robin battle all the spiders alone, no matter how wise my sidekick is. And plus, you are still the number one of my list to save… But, don't tell my mom that."

...

Percy scratched his head, watching the blond next to him read a rather large book; he never understood how she did it. Like him, she was dyslexic as well as having ADHD. Yet, there was his best friend devouring a book on Greek architecture, her passion. Even though most would think it would bore him to death, causing his ADHD to kick in, Percy always found himself watching Annabeth read, while they lounged around at her house. It was different than how it had been back in second grade; Annabeth's father had remarried, giving Annabeth three new members to her family: a stepmom and two younger brothers. As much as Annabeth loved them like whole brothers, Percy could always see the sadness in her eyes when she saw how perfect and happy a family her two younger brothers, her stepmom, and father made. A family without her. And then, she would hide herself in a book, much like she was doing that very second.

"We're practically family," Percy thought aloud, causing Annabeth to reluctantly break her gaze from her book.

An eyebrow cocked, Annabeth inspected the young boy in front of her, nose wrinkling. "Eh, I already have two brothers – don't need a third." Her eyes dropped from his, not wanting to let him see the sadness that was ever apparent in them.

He sighed, knowing how painful it felt to have a half sibling, as much as you loved them. It turned out that Percy had a half-brother – Tyson – and his mother had remarried too. "You're all a family, you know, just like mine." And truly, he did believe that.

"I suppose," she frowned again, returning back to the safe-haven of her book. "Hey—" Annabeth protested as Percy grabbed the book from her, snapping it shut. "At least let me put the bookmark in next time," she mumbled, tossing the bookmark on the coffee table; it was of no use now.

"Would you even want me as a brother?" Percy wondered, pushing his eyebrows together like he always did when he was thinking hard.

Chuckling, Annabeth watched his face form the normal expression he made when thinking, "Don't think too hard that you'll hurt your brain." She knew Percy wouldn't let her get off from answering his question so she paused and considered it. Percy, the seventh grader who still was in dire need of a haircut, was her best friend. Of course, the closest thing after that would be brother and sister, or at least in Percy's mind it was, but Annabeth didn't want them to be related, at least not by blood. "No," she drawled, still contemplating how best to say it, "I like having you for a best friend. It's more than enough."

He beamed, handing back her architecture book, "You know, whenever you need someone to talk to, I'm here. And, even though we're not family, I'm still here to talk to you."

"I know," and he, too, knew that she did; talking was what made them best friends in the first place.

With a small grin still on his face, "It doesn't matter if we have half siblings – we still love them like they're whole." Annabeth couldn't help but chuckle at Percy's idea of whole siblings versus half. "Hey don't laugh," he faked a frown, only to get a light punch in the arm from Annabeth. "Ow," he muttered under his breath, before becoming serious again. "Just 'cause— Even though we both have step-parents, we're both part of a family. And, yeah, I know that it's not the same as us having our real mom and dad, but both our families wouldn't be the same without us. Although, it sometimes seems like they would be perfectly happy anyways."

This time, it was Annabeth's turn to frown, though she looked down at the book that served her purpose as being a safe-haven. In all reality, it wasn't the book that was her safe-haven but Percy: her best friend. She could always find solace in him. "When did you get so smart?" The grey met green once again, as both of them sent each other adoring grins.

"It helps having you for a best friend, Wise Girl," Percy's arm went around her shoulder, nodding for her to return back to her book once again. Sending him a thankful smile, Annabeth went back to reading, getting immersed in the words while Percy was left to watch and think.

She was his best friend though not the first he ever had. She was his number one girl though his mom had been number one first. He wanted for there to be something that they could have together; while yes, he was Annabeth's first best friend, he wanted to share a mutual first. Though, what was there for them to share? Surely, he shared his food with her all the time, her doing the same, but that was not the type of first that he wanted. What he desired was something lasting, something that they could look back on and know that no one else could replace it as the first.

"Wise Girl?" Percy inquired, as Annabeth lifted her head, turning to gaze at him. Before either of them could completely process what was occurring, Percy's lips captured hers, sweet and innocent. Exactly what he wanted to remember their joint first as being: sweet and innocent. Exactly what Annabeth had always dreamt of her first kiss being; sweet, innocent, and full of adoration.

...

Percy Jackson stood at the docks, seeing his two most important girls coming towards him: Calypso and Annabeth Chase. Unlike Calypso, Annabeth grinned widely at him as they both approached him. After getting through the awkward years of middle school together, Percy had come to notice that he was the same height as his best friend now. But more than that, he started to notice the way her lips looked soft as she smiled: how her eyes would light up. He started to notice that his best friend was a girl, just like his girlfriend.

He couldn't contain it anymore; he ran towards the both of them, causing his girlfriend, Calypso, to giggle as she opened her arms wide. Falling into them, he grasped her tightly, burying his hair into her curly locks. "It's only three weeks, Batman," she smiled against his chest, as he held her in a bone-crunching, bear hug.

The familiar scent filled Percy's nostrils, something that he would miss smelling over the next three weeks. "It's the longest we've been apart, Wise Girl. What am I s'posed to do without you there?" He rubbed his hands at her waist, wanting to implant in his head what it was like to have her in his arms.

She chuckled lightly, knowing that she was as worried as he was. They were best friends, a tighter bond than even blood related brothers and sisters had. "You'll enjoy being in the ocean; you know it. You love the ocean more than anyone, Seaweed Brain."

Breathing out hot air, he couldn't help but breathe in her scent one more time before pulling back while smirking. She knew him much too well; he had come to love the ocean more than his father, even, or so his mom had told him. "It'd be better if I had Robin by my side." His hands remained on her waist, not wanting to let her go yet. He just wasn't ready to face the world without a sidekick. His sidekick.

"I know," she smiled sadly, leaving her hands on his shoulders, "I would love to be there with you – maybe get to look at the architecture. Plus, who knows what will happen to you, Seaweed Brain, without me being there." Her grey eyes sparkled, knowingly; knowing that when he was back in three weeks, she would truly be happy again. But no, she wouldn't wallow in pity for either one of them, especially not self-pity – they always had each other, and that was more than enough. His friendship had always been more than enough.

He couldn't avoid grinning, "Hopefully, nothing bad." Kissing her forehead, he breathed in her scent and relished her existence one last time before letting his hands fall from her waist. "Calypso," he turned towards his girlfriend, seeing her arms crossed under her chest, "I'll see you soon." Patting Calypso's shoulder, he started walking towards the ship but not before winking at his Robin.

...

"Percy!" Annabeth Chase screamed, slapping the back of Percy Jackson as he lifted her up outside of their high school; he hadn't seen his best friend, his Robin to his Batman, in much too long. "Seriously Seaweed Brain, it hasn't even been that lon-"

"Three weeks, Annabeth," he stopped moving her from side to side, setting her down on the grass once again. "I haven't seen you for three, whole weeks. I haven't even talked to you for twenty-one days." He let his arms clasp around her waist, not letting her go. Something about their bodies, something about them just fit.

She smiled, something she hadn't done for weeks on end: three weeks, to be exact. "I know, Percy," she mumbled into his chest, keeping her arms tightly around his neck, "I've missed you." She truly had; she had missed having her Seaweed Brain around.

Grinning while pulling away from her, he kissed her hair, "I've missed you too, Wise Girl." They broke apart, walking towards the doors that awaited them for their first year of high school. "Notice anything different about me?" He titled his head downward, in order to meet her gaze for a split second.

"You grew," she stated with much sorrow, no longer having the height advantage over him.

His grin spread across more of his face, "I always told you that I would wind up out growing you. Never did believe me." For that he earned a slight push from Annabeth, as she shook her head. "What's that? The first time you've been wrong?"

She rolled her eyes, not letting the chuckle escape from her mouth, "That's only the first time, you know. Don't get used to it." They continued to walk in a comfortable silence into the school, that is until Annabeth broke it. "So, shouldn't you be searching for Calypso?" Although Annabeth tried to hide it, Percy caught the forlorn expression that quickly passed her face. Though before he could register it, she covered up the sadness with a blank expression.

"Yeah, about that," Percy scratched his head, glancing away from Annabeth. "She broke up with me yesterday." He was expecting for Annabeth to jump him for not telling her the day that it happened, for not confiding in her without her having to ask. He was expecting some sort of rise or madness or annoyance from her.

But instead, she simply said "Oh, I'm sorry," while rubbing his back comfortingly and quickly.

He shrugged, running a hand through his messy, dark locks, "She was never the one anyways." Annabeth rolled her eyes at Percy's corniness, allowing, once again, for the comfortable silence to wash over them.

While making their way to their homerooms, Annabeth noticed the many heads of girls that turned in their direction. Glancing up at Percy, she knew he was completely oblivious to the many looks he was receiving and whispers he was evoking. He had grown out of that awkward stage, she noticed. Coming back from spending almost every day at the beach, his arms took on a tan, more muscle at his biceps. Even though she would never tell him, for fear of him getting an even bigger head, Annabeth Chase knew her best friend was gorgeous. But even having gotten out of those awkward years of middle school, he was still in dire need of a haircut; he was still that Seaweed Brain.

But as wise as that Wise Girl may have been, she didn't take in the many looks that she was receiving from guys; though, Percy did. It infuriated him the way that guys were looking at his best friend, like she was a piece of meat. None of them knew her like he did, knew how her stormy grey eyes became a shade darker when they were filled with sadness. How she pushed her eyebrows downward when blowing her bangs out of her face. How her freckles stood out more during the summer when they spent the day at the beach. How her tongue peaked out of her lips when she was concentrating on perfecting her blueprints for an imaginary building. None of them knew Annabeth Chase the way that Percy Jackson did. None of them knew that she wasn't just beautiful on the outside because only Percy knew that beauty existed on the inside as well.

...

"Still sitting in my swing, Robin?" Percy grinned, taking the seat next to his best friend. Being six feet tall now, he was a tad bit big for the old swing set, yet he knew it was the only place to go for an occasion like this.

Pumping her legs, Annabeth turned back to look at Percy, sticking her tongue out at him like they used to, "How many times do I have to tell you; this is not your swing." She laughed, the sound feeling wonderful coming from her lips. It was a laugh of shear happiness.

"And how many times do I have to tell you that it is?" In turn, Percy chuckled, loving the way that his deep, light laughter mingled with hers in the air. He could never get over how two stubborn kids had grown to become the best of friends. "Do you ever wonder," he continued before Annabeth could dispute the whole swing topic, "what made us become best friends?"

Letting her swing start to lose velocity, she gazed at Percy, feeling that it was a loaded question. Because really, what Seaweed Brain just asked that out of the blue? But then and again, she did remember that he was a Seaweed Brain. "Well, if I remember correctly, a certain Seaweed Brain decided that everything had to be sealed by eating blue food." Pausing, she thought back to the time when they both agreed to finally be best friends. "A cookie, to be exact."

He couldn't help but grin again, "You know blue food makes everything better." Just as always, she could make him smile.

Merely rolling her eyes, she raised her eyebrows, "I know you didn't drag me out here to talk to me about blue food, Percy." She knew him well; she always had. In fact, they both knew each other well, yet they both missed the one thing about each other: the same thing about each other that both of them were too blind to see.

"Yeah," he left the word hanging in the air, becoming more and more nervous as the seconds passed by. He never thought it would be this hard. Surely, it couldn't be this hard.

"Yeah," she mocked him lightly, digging her heels into the ground to stop the swing. "You seem nervous," Annabeth noted of her best friend. It wasn't very often that the overconfident Percy Jackson was even a tad bit nervous.

"Yeah," again he drawled, scratching his head which was covered with hair.

Watching his actions, Annabeth rolled her eyes, something that had almost become her signature. "Seaweed Brain, are you ever going to get that haircut or what?" For too many years she had been pestering him about getting a proper haircut. Of course, he had gotten haircuts, but they were never what Annabeth considered 'proper'.

"Yea-," he began, until realizing what he was saying yeah to, "I mean no." But then he thought about it, wondering if getting the haircut would raise his chances, "Or, I mean yeah, if-"

"Batman," Annabeth cut off the stuttering Percy before he could ramble on for too long; it was getting dark, "what exactly has gotten you so nervous?" It wasn't a question, don't be fooled; it was a demand. She was going to know what had made her best friend so anxious one way or another.

Once again, Percy scratched his head, not knowing where to start. Whenever he was nervous, he would start to ramble unwittingly, but Annabeth was always there to catch him, to help him. He always had his sidekick by his side; she always knew exactly what he meant. "Well, you see…There's this girl…You know, girls… Well, you should know girls, 'cause you're a girl," he looked up to see Annabeth silently wracking with laughter. "C'mon, this is hard and serious."

Letting it erupt from her heart, Annabeth chortled until she could chuckle no more. "Percy, if you just said it already, it wouldn't be so hard. You can always tell me anything, you know." Her gaze softened as she inspected the not-so-young, dark haired boy in front of her. Even as he grew older, his sea-green eyes were the same as they had been the first day they met: sweet and innocent. "If it's about your hair, I really don't mind it being that long except for when you obnoxiously flip the hair out of your eyes. Totally and comple-"

He kissed her. Percy Jackson kissed his best friend for the second time, once again. As he brushed his lips against hers softly, he relished the taste of candy cane hot chocolate that he had bought her and she finished off only a few minutes earlier. He lightly pressed his palm to her cheek, before pulling away, already missing the feel of her warm lips on his. It had taken too long for this to happen once again, yet the kiss had been just right.

Clearing his throat, Percy addressed his best friend, whose eyes were clouded over, "I..uh…" Trailing off, he wasn't sure of how to phrase it exactly; how to say what he hoped the kiss had shown. But the girl who he was talking to, she was more than the girl that had sat in his swing ten years ago, not moving; she was, "you're, I mean, you know… You've always been the one." He paused, again, expecting her to interrupt him, but she simply gazed at him with great interest and something else in her eyes that he just couldn't place. What was it? Confusion? Annoyance? Adoration? "I never told you why Calypso broke up with me…" Chuckling, his hand ran through the messy locks once more. "She said you were more of a girlfriend to me than she ever was – said she felt like the third wheel when you were around."

"I'm sorry," Annabeth's smile slowly spread across her face, the sorry obviously not truly being sincere.

"No need," Percy stated matter-of-factly, before letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding in, "cause I'm not sorry… 'Cause, I like you," he grinned, this one being a grin with a full set of teeth, "a lot. I just should have realized that being the number one on my list to save made you my only one."

She couldn't help but chuckle at his corniness, a light shake of the head being just enough. "Percy, I hope you don't mean as a sister because I definitely don't like you like that," the last part growing to a whisper as, for the first time, her lips descended onto his.

It still rang true: their friendship was a tighter bond than even blood related brothers and sisters had.

Because you have to remember: she was so much more than the girl who sat in his swing, who still sits in his swing. She's Robin, his Wise Girl, and more than anything, she would always be his best friend. All of those things had always been sufficient; she didn't need anything more. But by adding "his girlfriend" to the list, it was, quite simply:

More than enough.

xx

AN: Above all else, I hope that you enjoyed this one-shot which pretty much took over one of my Fridays back in March.

Written {3.2.12}

Update {4.4.12}: I won the contest :)

Edited {5.6.12}

Reformatted {6.29.12}

Revised {12.12.12}