Percabeth (It was worth the wait)

Age 15

The start of high school brings new beginnings, fresh faces and freshmen year.

Percy feels a shift in his group as he sees them at the front of the high school, waiting for him. He realises it's because there's an extra person among their usual four.

"Luke!"

The blond turns at his name, and his face breaks into a smile when he sees Percy.

"Percy!" Luke brings an arm around Percy, giving him a one-armed hug.

"You didn't say you were coming back," he says when Luke pulls away, taking his spot next to Thalia.

"Wanted to surprise you lot. Are you?"

"Extremely," Annabeth says with a bright smile, and leans her head on Luke's shoulder, emphasising their height difference as he smiles down at her.

Grover and Thalia wave at Percy in greeting, but he's still staring at Luke, dumbfounded. He hasn't seen him in three years, and his brain is struggling to connect the image he has of him when he was twelve and what he looks like now.

His blond hair is the same, spiky, and kind of sticking up like he's tried to style it but given up halfway, he's still taller than Percy (a fact Percy wishes wasn't true), and he still has the same care-free aura around him that Percy's always been kind of jealous of. Luke just seems like a good guy to be around and from personal experience, Percy knows he's one of the best, and based off of the random calls they've managed to maintain over the years he's still the same.

What's different is the way he's looking at Thalia.

And the way Annabeth is looking at him.

Percy notices it with a sharp pull to his stomach.

Aside from Luke's abrupt appearance at the beginning of freshman year, nothing surprising happens throughout their first year of high school.

Except maybe when Luke and Thalia start dating and throw the entire balance of the group out.

That's surprising, but not as surprising as Annabeth's reaction to it.

They don't announce it or anything but it's her who notices first.

"What are you looking at?" Percy asks, but he finds his answer as he follows her line of sight.

Her eyes are trained on the hand Luke has around Thalia's as they walk into the cafeteria one day, and her neck is turning bright pink as they take their usual seats at the table, saying hello, as their joined hands sit in front of them.

Thalia meets Percy's eyes across the table and raises an eyebrow, daring him to question her.

He smirks and mirrors her expression. This is going to bite him in the ass later, but it'll be worth it.

"Anything interesting happen during your study period you two?" He asks grinning. Grover scoffs at his side, but Annabeth stays silent, picking at her food with a fork.

Thalia's eyes glower with blue fire as she stares him down.

"Nope," she answers.

"Sureeee," he says, drawing the word out. Thalia continues to glare at him as he laughs, but her cheeks are almost as bright as the apple on her tray. He points that out and ducks quickly as she launches it at his face.

He's still laughing as he comes back up from hiding and Thalia is distracted by Grover who has taken the hint and has changed the subject to something completely different.