Endangered Species

Annabeth keeps getting dumped. Sure, they'll say they want a casual relationship, but let's face it: a lot of college guys want one thing she's not willing to give. She's not quite sure what's going on, until Percy gets a bit fed up.

(One-shot)

I didn't bother to knock in coming through Percy's open dorm room, intent on making my way to his tiny single bed shoved in the corner. He hardly glanced up from his notebook as I plopped onto his unmade bed, grabbing one of his pillows and hugging it to my chest.

"What'cha doing there, Annabeth?" he asked.

"I'm sitting on your bed, idiot."

"I realize that." He dropped his pen and stretched his back, bringing his arms up into the air and flexing. "What's up?"

I watched him drop his muscled arms, staring longingly. They'd held me so many times, but nothing more than friendship. I sighed wearily and hugged the pillow closer. "Nothing."

"If you're going to be sitting there and moping, at least make yourself useful and make my bed."

"Make it yourself, loser," I mumbled, burying myself in his sheets. They smelled like him. I really hoped Percy never knew how much I liked that. "What are you working on?"

"Essay."

"Oh, that one due tomorrow?"

"Yeah," he said distractedly, looking back at his notebook. "I'm almost done, but my prof gave us some more stuff to look over, so I have to do that then quickly type it up in the lab tonight."

"You can borrow my laptop, I don't need it tonight."

His face split into a huge grin. "Annabeth, you're a lifesaver."

"Yeah, yeah." I concealed my face back into one of his nice-smelling pillows. "You owe me."

"Ice cream on the way," he joked, coming up to the bed and propping his arms and chin onto the mattress. I felt a poke at my side. "You all right?"

"I'm having the time of my life, Percy."

"My presence does that," he said, poking me again. I rolled my eyes, even if he couldn't see it. "Come on, tell me why you're moping."

"No."

"Just tell me."

"Not a chance."

"I will tickle it out of you."

I immediately sat up, slitting my eyes towards him. "You wouldn't."

He only smirked.

He so would.

I puffed out a breath of air as he clambered into his bed beside me. The only times I let him tickle me was if I really desperate to get him to straddle me, which always ended up happening, but that the moment, I wasn't exactly in the mood. I wanted to snuggle up to him until all my problems went away. That wasn't exactly an option, though.

"So, tell me what happened before we get ice cream," Percy said matter-of-factly.

He knew me too well.

"Mark said some interesting things," I admitted in a small voice.

"What kind of things?"

"He didn't ask me to meet up with him for another date," I said gloomily. I'd been going on a few dates with a boy named Mark, who seemed nice enough. Not Percy, but at least he was cute. "He said he wanted to end things before it got serious."

Percy wrapped an arm around me. "I'll kill him for you."

"He got to know my fist already, don't worry," I assured, and he grinned. "But before that. I asked why. And he told me that I wasn't the type of girl he was looking for. Apparently," I said, pissed off, "I want a 'serious relationship' and he's not at the same level as I am."

"Oh," he said, nodding. "That's probably because you didn't put out after your last date with him."

I shoved him away, face burning red. "Percy!"

"What?" he said, laughing. "It's true."

"But I don't want a serious relationship," I whined, tugging his pillow back to my chest. "I didn't even ask to be exclusive. I don't want a serious relationship either!"

"Come on, we're in college now," he said, rolling his eyes. "Making out isn't going to cut it anymore."

I slumped against his wall. "I don't know why guys keep doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Stop seeing me just because I won't let them grope me," I said, and Percy snorted. "It's not like I'm wearing a sign around my neck saying, 'Look at me, I want an exclusive relationship with anniversaries every month!'"

"Nah, you've got something worse," he said, trying to keep a straight face.

"What's that?"

"A v-card."

I shoved him harder this time.

"You have one, too!" I protested, wondering why I was so embarrassed. There was nothing wrong with being nineteen and a virgin.

"I'm not the one who's dating," he pointed out.

"You turn down those girls, though."

"I don't have much time between work and school," he said, shrugging. "Besides, girls expect me to pay. Where am I going to get the money for that?"

"Definitely not your laptop fund," I put in.

"Exactly." He shrugged again. "I'll date vicariously through you."

"That's going to be kind of hard, since no one wants to go out past the first three dates," I huffed, leaning my head against his shoulder. He chuckled and ruffled my hair fondly.

"You're the kind of girl that guys marry," he said, trying to reason with me. "And before you say anything, that's a compliment."

"But I'm not," I said grumpily.

"You kind of are," he said nonchalantly. But it was a big deal. It was. Instead of treating it that way, however, he pulled me by the arm and began to drag me out of his room. "Come on, I still have Oreo ice cream from the last breakup."

"You forgot your keys, Percy," I said wearily, sticking my shoe in the door before it closed. He grinned at me and ruffled my hair again.

"What would I do without you?"

"Sleep on the floor."

"Very true."

He was killing me.

And about half of the other girls watching him swim.

"Are you sure you're not going to come in?" Percy asked me, poking my bare leg. "The water's really nice, I swear."

"I'm good right here," I said, splashing him with my foot. The only reason I came to the campus pool with him was so I could watch him swim, under the alias that I came to "dip my feet in the water". And I couldn't very well watch him while I was swimming, could I?

"Come on, Annabeth," he said, floating on his back. "I won't let you drown."

This was true. He'd been a lifeguard at the pool back home for four summers in a row.

I shook my head. "I'm not that bad a swimmer."

"I don't know why you come," he grumbled, "if you're not going to swim."

His abs were plenty of reason to come, in my opinion. I grinned. "Hey, I'm just here to accompany your lonely self."

"So you're doing me a favour," he deadpanned.

"Exactly."

"Right." He rolled his eyes and propped his elbows up onto the edge of the pool beside my legs, placing his chin on his – cough wonderfully delicious cough – forearms. He stared at me until I felt self-conscious.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"Do I have to pull you into the pool?"

I snorted. "You're not going to do that." Even if he acted like he wasn't scared of me, I think we could both tell he was. Just a little.

"What makes you so sure?" he asked.

"Because – oh." I ducked my head and hid my face with my hair. "Umm –"

"What happened?" Percy asked, turning around and trying to see what had distracted me.

"It's Mark," I admitted in a small voice. I wanted nothing more to sink into the ground and stay there. Where he couldn't see me, and I couldn't see him.

"Which one is he?" Percy asked, looking behind him again. He'd never met Mark. "Is he the one with the dark hair by the lounge chairs?"

I peeked up. "Yeah."

"With that girl wearing band aids for a swimsuit?"

I cracked a smile. Percy always knew what to say. "That's him."

"It makes sense that he dumped you, then," he said matter-of-factly, turning around and grinning at me. "You're too high for his standards."

"Shut up," I said, lightly punching his arm and trying not to blush. "He dumped me because he doesn't want a 'serious relationship'."

"Yeah, I can see that," Percy muttered.

"And apparently I do, even though I hadn't even mentioned being exclusive." I crossed my arms across my chest and looked back at Mark. "What's wrong with guys these days?"

"You know," Percy began, "with all these guys –"

"There were only four."

"Like I said," he continued impatiently, "with all these guys, you've complained about how they're crappy dates and they stink at conversation or they always try to grope you at the movies or get you the wrong coffee –"

"Hey, if they can't remember a simple order –"

"Not the point," he cut in, rolling his eyes again. "Annabeth, you come to me complaining that they've dumped you after three dates because of all these different reasons, the latest being that you want a serious relationship."

I shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

"So I don't really buy it," he shot back, looking very annoyed by now. "Why did you go out with them, even after the first date? Was it because you actually liked them?"

"What – I – of course I liked them!" I spluttered heatedly, narrowing my eyes. "What kind of question is that?"

"You sure?" he asked, floating back in the pool and treading water.

"Yes!"

"Doesn't seem like it," he said honestly. "I know if you really cared about them, you would've let those stupid things slide. But now I'm really wondering why you were upset at all every time you got dumped."

Anger was building in my chest. "Excuse me? Do you really think I'd date them if I didn't like them?"

"Well, you said it yourself," he pointed it out, crossing his arms underneath the water. "You don't want a serious relationship. So why date them if you really liked them?"

"I –" I was speechless. I didn't even know Percy could be so perceptive. "I don't know."

He stared at me, completely pissed off, and I had no idea why.

"For fun?" I suggested weakly. "Is dating such a crime? It's not like I'm sleeping around or something –"

"Doesn't sound like you," he said firmly, "and we've been friends for seven years. I know you."

"So what are you saying?" I snapped. "That I'm just dating random guys for the hell of it?"

He shook his head. "I'm saying that I know you, and you're the kind of person who wants a serious relationship and you're going out with guys you aren't into."

"But –"

"I'm saying you're selling yourself short."

I didn't know what to say to that.

A few moments passed before Percy loosened his arms to his sides, sighing wearily. I felt overwhelming guilt wash over me, though I wasn't quite sure why.

"Look, I don't know why you're always so upset after these breakups," he said quietly, not looking me in the eyes. "Maybe they just wounded your pride or something. I don't know. But you wanted a casual relationship, and so did Mark, but he didn't get that from you. Maybe you should wonder why."

A lump rose in my throat as he swam away, heading for the change rooms. I felt like I'd disappointed him in a major way.

I wasn't used to that.

His grudge only really lasted a day. He knocked on my door of my dorm the day after, just as I was getting ready to go to bed. Percy was very bad at getting angry with people unless they completely betrayed him, and I didn't think I'd done anything that affected him.

I opened the door and he entered wordlessly, barely looking at me. I cleared my throat.

"Hi," I said in a small voice.

Percy gave me a half-smile before sitting on my bed. "Hey."

"I think I might've figured it out," I said, running my fingers over my side braid. "You know. These breakups."

"Yeah?"

"I think you're right," I told him, sitting on my desk and facing him. "I mean, it's stupid that all college guys expect you to have sex with them even if it's not serious. But I get it now. I do want a serious relationship."

He nodded, smiling smugly. "I knew it. See, I know you –"

"But not with them."

That shut him up.

"I think it was me," I said, my eyes dropping to the floor. "I think it was me who was the bad date. Because there we were, sitting in a coffee shop and all I could do was be snappy at how things weren't perfect enough, like it was his fault the baristas messed up the coffee and that he was too nervous to say anything."

He sighed. "Annabeth."

"It was just my pride," I said guiltily. "You know that I never dated anyone in before college, and I wanted to start. But I stink at dating. And Mark actually gave me a legitimate reason why he dumped me. We wanted a casual relationship, but I still had to be into him a little, and I wasn't. I drove him away."

"You are quite scary sometimes."

I chuckled sadly and looked back up. "I guess so."

Something in Percy's eyes had softened and he gestured for me to come beside him. I sat next to him on my bed and he put his arm around me. I didn't think it could get worse, by this point. Other guys didn't want me because I wasn't interested in them enough, even for a casual relationship. And the one guy I really wanted didn't want me, either.

"You're not that scary," Percy reassured me. "Only when you don't get what you want."

"Gee, thanks."

His smile dropped. "Annabeth, I'm really sorry."

"For what?" I asked. "You're the one who actually called me out on my bullshit."

"But I didn't mean to be so harsh about it."

"I probably wouldn't have understood if you hadn't been," I said honestly. He shrugged. "Why were you so mad at me?"

"Erm." For some reason, his cheeks tinged red. "I don't know. I want you to be yourself. Even if you want serious relationships. There's nothing wrong with that."

"But most college guys just want sex," I groaned miserably, leaning into him and shutting my eyes. "I'm doomed to be single until I'm twenty-five."

"Oh, come on."

"Really, though." I straightened up, feeling like I was speaking truthfully after a long time. "I'm Annabeth, and I want a serious relationship. I want to lose my v-card to someone who I care about, more than just using them to feed my pride."

"Which is bad," Percy added playfully.

"Very bad," I agreed, sighing heavily. "And I'm also an endangered species among nineteen year olds."

Percy laughed, wrapping his arms around my waist and squeezing. "I think you're forgetting someone."

"What?"

"I may be part of this species you speak of. Scratch that, I'm definitely part of it. And," he broke off, suddenly turning red again, "I might've been lying."

I raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"About why I got so mad," he admitted, averting his eyes. "I mean, we're both into serious relationships and hoarding our v-cards, and I happen to feel the urge to dip into my laptop fund for a date."

It took me a second to fully realize what he was saying.

"Oh," I said, trying not to laugh, "So you're saying I should find someone who's also into serious relationships and doesn't have any dating experience?"

He groaned. "Annabeth."

"And I don't think you should sacrifice your laptop fund. That means you won't buy me ice cream anymore."

"I hate you," he grumbled, gripped my hips and hauling me onto his lap. "You're killing me here. You can't just do that. We're an endangered species, Annabeth."

I grinned and pulled his lips to mine. "Not for long."