You Belong to my Heart: A Percabeth FF

20. Annabeth

Chapter 20: Annabeth

~a little before, a little after~

ANNIE GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF. My gods. I had just made a fool of myself in front of a crowd of parents AND Percy Jackson. I looked down at my hands and gripped them tightly.

When I looked up I was met by a bunch of eager, wide-eyed small children. I smiled and took in a deep breath. Game on, Beth. "Okay are we ready for this?" I whispered.

They cheered in response and I quickly shushed them. "You don't want your families to hear you!" I giggled. They all burst into giggles, pointing fingers at who was the first to start cheering.

"Okay positions everyone!" I said. I was so stoked for this play. It was something that I had written on my own time, and though it was short and sweet, it was very meaningful. The story featured many boys and girls, all of which had different powers, trapped in different towers with the same abusive mother, and each boy and girl was saved by a team of rescuers. They then united their powers to save the kingdom from the witch.

"Tyson, Lex, Netra, Viv, and Oliver, get in positions, you are all up," Thalia said, tapping her clipboard.

The five children walked to the front of the stage and I handed each one of them a cardboard style tower. Then I walked to their heroes, Ella, Lena, Katie, Varni, and Mar to hand them brooms, which we had styled to look like horses.

Before the play, my stomach was in butterflies and I had been jittery. During the play, I was simply stressed out and catching all of the actor's mistakes. Now, well, now I was exhausted and needed some time to relax.

After the play, I shook hands with all of the parents, who congratulated me on writing the script, and I praised their children, who each glowed brighter than the first. The line was thinning out and I checked my phone before looking up into a pair of sea green eyes I knew too well.

"Percy!" I tried not to sound too happy to see him, though my heart was racing and my cheeks were already flushing.

"I bet everyone told you that the script was amazing, so I'll tell you that your management backstage was superb."

I didn't know what to say, and my mouth hung open a little. "Thanks," I burst out laughing.

"Tyson might have whispered it to me but shh," he teased.

"Speaking of which, where is he?" I asked.

"Guess who he ran off with?" he waggled his eyebrows.

"Who?"

"You're supposed to guess, Beth!"

"Just tell me!"

His voice dropped and he smirked. "Ella."

"OH MY GODS. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I have to see this!! Where are they?" I squealed.

"Here I'll show you," he smiled. I excused myself from the waiting line of parents and quickly congratulated everyone on an amazing job and then I ran to Percy, and slipped my hand in his.

He looked at me for a second, biting his lip, and he seemed like he wanted to tell me something. He opened his mouth, but quickly changed what he was going to say, I saw it, and instead said, "look!" and pointed to a pair of children playing underneath the play structure.

Tyson was glowing and Ella was blushing so hard. "OH MY GODS!" I squealed.

"I know right!" he smiled.

"They're so cute," I whispered. Tyson was looking at Ella from the corner of his eyes and Ella was holding his hands. The fangirl side of me was squealing so hard.

"Yeah," Percy smiled, but when I glanced up at him, he was looking at me.

"What?" I laughed.

"Nothing, it's just Tyson has a more active love life than me—" he smirked.

"It does get lonely being single, doesn't it?" I giggled.

"Yeah it's kind of sad how little society appreciates the other type of love in our life. Romance isn't the center of it all."

"But it's the type of feeling that makes you feel the happiest," I looked deep into his eyes.

He ran a hand through his raven black hair. "Perhaps."

"What do you mean perhaps? Of course it's true! Why do you think authors write more romance than stories about true friendship? It's easier and more fun to write," I explained.

"You know you could have used funner there?" Percy smirked.

"That's grammatically incorrect—"

"Nuh-uh. It's a word in the English dictionary. Go look it up."

"I don't think so," I replied.

"Wanna bet?" he smirked confidently.

"No," I replied quickly.

"That's because you're scared of losing," he poked me in the cheek.

"Am not!"

"Then make a bet, Wisegirl."

"No," I sighed. He burst out laughing and I rolled my eyes at his amusement.

We eventually moved to the swings and talked for hours. The conversation was filled with jokes and teasing and maybe a little hint of flirting. Sometimes it was quiet, observing Tyson, and other times we slurred our words together by how fast we were talking. By the time I walked home, I realized a shift in my heart. Percy Jackson had become my best friend (and maybe even a little more). Even though I knew I wasn't his bestie, I would never stop trying to occupy a space in his kind heart. I trusted him with my life and soul. If I had to tell someone my biggest secret, it would be him, no questions asked. The irony was, when I had first met him, I would have never believed the thoughts that were going through my head. I smiled at my younger, past, and naive self and began to run home.