Dancing in the Dark- Percabeth Dance AU

:Part 12:

Annabeth was at her monthly doctors appointment for May to check up on her knee and this time Percy was with her. She loosely held his hand as the waited for the x-ray results to come back. Another thing was on her mind though. California. Obviously she wasn't going to be heading to New York anytime soon. That is if her knee keeps getting better but still, auditions happened. Rachel got in, Annabeth was still stuck right at home. 

The doctor suddenly came in and disrupted her thoughts. 

"Well it's clear your muscles are repaired. Your ACL is healing nicely. I would still say a good 3 to 4 more months before trying again. With your injury we expect it to take 10 months to a year to fully heal completely. You can try dancing around month 6 or 7 but until then let's just be careful." 

He excused them and they walked out of the office. By now the people at the front desk knew Annabeth and they waved as she and Percy left the building. Once they were in Percy's car, well his step dad's car, Annabeth noticed how silent Percy had been. She also noticed how weirdly sweaty and nervous he looked.

"You okay there Percy?" She asked. 

Percy nodded his head and buckled himself in. 

"Actually..." He was about to start the car when he stopped, "You know uh prom is in a few weeks. Do you maybe wanna go?" 

He looked like a nervous baby penguin. 

"With you? As in like a date?" 

"Uhhh no! I mean cause your dating Luke and not a date. Why would you even suggest that?" He was starting to ramble when he finished his sentence. 

"Luke and I broke up." She said in a small voice. 

Percy was surprised, shocked, and maybe even a little happy that Luke was out of the way. 

"Oh um...I'm sorry...Soooo you on for prom?" Percy quickly changed the subject. Annabeth rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm jokingly.

"I wasn't planning on going." She admitted. 

It was a dance. She couldn't dance, no point in going.

"Pff yeah of course. Just forget I said anything..." Percy said brushing aside the conversation. He pulled the car out of the parking lot and they didn't talk much on the ride back. 

~~~~

6th Grade

"Fabulous job you two! Round of applause for Percy and Annabeth!" 

The teacher and the class clapped after presenting their project. Although they both knew no one was really listening to their presentation at all. The class was too busy tapping pencils or they just didn't care, typical. The rest of the class was just presentation so afterwards Percy waited for Annabeth to finish grabbing her books to head to their next class. 

"Hey Annabeth can I talk to you?" He asked. Annabeth nodded her head and stood there waiting for him to talk. "You going to Friday Night Lights?" 

Friday Night Lights was their school dance. 

Named after my school dances lol, FNL! 

Annabeth shrugged. 

"I don't know. I have a dance class on Friday nights. Why?" She found it almost random that Percy just brought it up so suddenly. 

"Just wondering cause we're all going." 

"We?" Annabeth questioned. 

"I mean like our friend group." 

"Correction, our friend groups. I'm not really friends with anyone you know except for Grover." Annabeth was very confused. Usually she knew how to read people but Percy, she couldn't place him somehow. 

~~~~

They were both 5 minutes away from her house when Annabeth told him they were gonna make a detour. 

"I wanna go somewhere...mind?" 

Percy shook his head no since he didn't have anywhere else to go that day. She plugged in her phone into the car so it would show the directions on the gps. They drove for half an hour when the small town was behind them and they were on an open road. Annabeth turned up the radio and they just drove through the road with the fields beside them. Percy noticed how the sun reflected off of Annabeth's hair, the way her face was lighting up. It wasn't just from the sun, she was smiling, brightly. She seemed so excited, for a reason Percy didn't know yet. When they pulled into a small parking lot that was on the side of the road Annabeth instantly unbuckled. 

The sun was warm but the wind sent a fresh and cool breeze down. It was a field of green grass. Nothing short of beautiful with the way it basked in the sunlight. 

"I used to go here all the time. I would dance by myself but I haven't been here since before I started practicing for the audition." She took off her sandals and walked onto the grass. 

Percy was standing by the car when she turned her head back. 

"You're not gonna be killed Seaweed Brain." She rolled her eyes and went over to him. She pulled him onto the grass and she used her non injured leg to do rond de jambe. "Eyes on me, okay? Just trust me." 

She placed her hands on his shoulders and Percy put his on her waist. He was about to break a sweat when he saw something. That glint. He'd notice it over the years of knowing Annabeth. When she was about to dance, she had that glint her grey stormy eyes. At first they just looked at each other but then slowly started to sway back and forth. That turned into Percy doing a small turns to Annabeth. She made sure to be clear of her injury and take things slow. There was no music but just the sound of the whistling wind and drum beats of the sun. They laughed and smiled. Each of them just taking in the moment to be finally be kids again. Noting to worry about, no responsibilities, no worries, no college stress. Everything just dissolved into the earth as if it were never even a feeling.

Percy picked Annabeth up bridal style and they spun around. When he set her down they were close with little space between them.  Percy was expecting the same thing as usual. The almost kiss. Yet he was surprised when something different happened. 

She kissed him. 

The world stopped. Time stopped. Everything just stopped. Somehow they both wanted to stay in the moment forever. Percy's mind was clouded. When they pulled away they both smiled. Percy was blushing like mad and so was Annabeth. 

"Percy- I- sorry. I didn't mean too."

"No, no...I- kinda liked it." He was a little embarrassed to admit it. 

They stayed silent until Annabeth intertwined her fingers with his. 

"So you on for a movie tonight?" She asked as she let go. Then started to walk back towards the edge of the field where the car and her shoes were. 

"Hey! Only is we get to watch Finding Nemo!" He yelled before running after her.