5 years
It's been 5 years since Percy or Annabeth have talked to each other.
And the entire time, Annabeth hated him more every day. He did leave her after all, the boy who was supposed to be her best friend.
When Percy returns to their small tow...
Actually no, saying things 'got better' indicates that something was wrong. Nothing was wrong, it was just my guilt haunting me.
So I was ecstatic when we decided to go pick strawberries today. We'd discovered them a week ago when we skipped highschool to go to the creek and they were perfect and ripe now.
It also gave me a sense of nostalgia. Percy, Grover and I used to pick strawberries together all the time as kids, having little picnics and stuffing ourselves with Sally's blue-strawberry jam.
Today however, it was just Percy and I. Grover decided that it was against his principles, and that his plant-therapy teacher or whatever told him that he shouldn't be plucking plants.
When I pointed out that he eats plants, he seemed to be on the verge of tears. So Percy ushered me out of that situation before the dam broke.
"This one looks delicious, care for a bite?" Percy asked from beside me, his voice muffling towards the end of the sentence.
"Yeah sure,"I turned to face him.
Percy leaned towards me, a strawberry in his mouth as his eyes shone with a mischievous glint.
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"Percy!" I laughed, pushing him away.
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"Hey," he chuckled, tossing the strawberry in the air and catching it in his mouth,"can't blame a guy for trying."
"Well next time try harder," I smirked, copying his previous motion.
"Speaking of trying...." Percy said, failing at looking nochalant.
The way he was failing to meet my gaze gave away the facade quite easily.
"The fair's coming to town next week...how about...you know, for our date. I did win the bet after all," he said,running his hand through his hair.
"That's...perfect," I replied, a genuine smile overtaking my face.
Percy seemed relieved.
I waited a moment before I spoke again.
"A real date...or....?" I asked, trying not to sound too eager. Real real real.
"Well....we can decide that after the date," Percy suggested, fidgeting with his bead necklace.
"We'll do that then," I nodded, sounding more optimistic than I felt
"It's a date then, we just don't know which one yet," Percy chuckled, consuming another strawberry
I laughed, trying to dispel the awkward energy,"you've been my boyfriend for almost three weeks and this is the first date we're going on"
"Hey! It's not like I wasn't trying," he replied, rolling his eyes as he continued munching,"you're just very elusive"
"Well someone's been reading the dictionary," I teased, reaching for a strawberry muself.
Percy slapped my hand away,"Nuh uh, strawberries are for nice people. And you're a bully," to demonstrate, he ate another one.
"If I recall, you bullied me a couple times too," I tapped my chin,"Or was it some other black haired boy who threw blue paint on me in art class?"
"I was like seven then!" he protested
I leaned over to grab a strawberry, and this time he didn't stop me,"bullying starts young," I tsked
"To be fair...the blue kinda suited you"
"I looked like a smurf!"
"It made your dress prettier!"
"It ruined my hair!"
"Yeah but you just had to wash it off"
"It took me four showers to get the paint off"
"Well that's not my fault"
"You were the one who threw the paint at me!"
"Yeah but that's cause..."
"Cause what,Percy?" I asked, poking him between the ribs,"because I beat you at tetherball?"
"Shut up," Percy's face turned a gorgeous shade of red,"you know I used to like you"
"Uh huh..." I replied, waving away my own heated cheeks.
"That's the only way I knew how to get your attention back then," he admitted, almost ripping out a strawberry plant.
"By attacking me with blue paint?" I grinned
"Let it goooo" he groaned
"Whatever you say, Elsa"
"Ohhh you're gonna be so sorry," Percy said, with a wicked grin.
"Oh id like to see you try," I laughed, eating yet another strawberry.
Percy's childish grin didn't falter as he reached across from me, picking up a fistful of strawberries.
"Attempt in motion," he whispered, before bringing them over my head and squeezing out the juice.
"Perrcyyyyyy!" I shrieked, feeling the sticky red juice make contact with my skin, "I'm going to kill you!"
"Catch me if you can!" he laughed, launching the strawberry carcasses towards me before he took off, running for dear life
"You are SO dead, Jackson!" I yelled, collecting myself enough to go chase after him.
As I ran across the field chasing a manaical Percy, I realised just how much I valued moments like this with him.
I'd honestly not gotten to have much in the past few years, with my nose constantly stuck in a book or in some other extracurricular activity.
But ever since Percy came barging back into my life, everything (even if I didn't admit it back then) changed for the better. And I owed him a lot for it.
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Short chapter, Useless to the plot But....it's cute
