My Best Friend's Brother [Rewritten]

One: Don't You Ever Let Go

A/N: MattMcWise :) best editor I could ask for— this rewritten version is also a very different take on the trope as this has been a theme in my other rewritten versions of my stories.
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It had been an accident, really. Annabeth didn't mean to fall for her best friend's brother. But it also wasn't really her fault; Percy's cute, he's kind, he's hot, he's funny, he's everything she could have wanted. But Peyton, Annabeth's best friend and the person who just so happened to have a "no fucking my brother" policy, and Annabeth was currently breaking her one policy.

It wasn't all at once. Everyone likes this theory of love at first sight, but that wasn't the case. She did her best to avoid him, knowing that he was someone who used his sister to find his next lay. Annabeth had known Peyton far too long to let that happen.

Annabeth had practically been raised as a Jackson had she not had her own home and family to return to most nights. Percy hadn't always had the reputation of being a whore; that, too, happened gradually.

The worst part about their relationship, which she's confirmed maybe too many times, is how good it feels. How he makes her feel, or how she feels when she's not with him. She enjoys the longing just as much as having him in her arms.

Of course, the relationship is still relatively new; it only became official two summers ago.

Summer before Senior Year...

Annabeth was sleeping over at the Jackson's and woke up at around three in the morning, her throat as dry as sandpaper. She padded down the hall from Peyton's room to the kitchen. There she could grab a glass of water and bring it back to Peyton's room, or so she had hoped.

She found a half-naked Percy, hair mussed and muscles rippling as he moved about the kitchen.

"Oh—" Annabeth nearly yelped before Percy clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Quiet, people are trying to sleep here, Beth." His voice was husky from sleep.

"Don't call me Beth." She scoffed.

"Why?" He smirked. "Pey calls you that."

"Yeah, but she's my best friend."

"What..." he drawled. "I don't have the same right?"

"I just came to get a glass of water." She stated, trying to look anywhere other than his chest that she wanted to rake her fingernails over.

If she was being honest, she'd had a crush on him since she was in middle school and learned what a crush was. She also knew that Peyton had had a history of people using her to get close to their brother.

"Oh, let me get it for you." He smiled charmingly.

He seemingly made an effort to flex any exposed muscle he could as he made her a glass of water. "I'm not blind, Beth." He said with his back to her before handing her the water. "I see how you look at me." He used his index finger to lift her chin to meet his eyes.

"I don't know what you mean." She tried to look away but found him closer.

"Peyton may not see it, or rather, they probably don't want to, but I know you like what you see."

"So what if I did?" Annabeth scoffed.

"Well, Peyton might see that as a problem."

"Exactly why I should be heading back to them right now." Annabeth made to turn on her heel when he grabbed her upper arm and spun her into his chest. "What—?"