WLW Percabeth imagines

That feeling

Before the Battle of the Labyrinth - After the Titan's curse

"Do you ever get a feeling when you're with someone, that makes your brain feel as if it's going to self destruct?" Cassie blurted out to Grover as they sat by the beach, gazing out at Long island Sound.

It was just before dinner, and the sun was setting on the horizon. Cassie had had another hectic day at camp, and was ready to relax and catch up with her best friend. They had reached a natural silence, until Cassie couldn't help blurting out the question that had been plaguing her mind ever since seeing a certain someone again.

"In a good or bad way?" Grover asked, taken aback by the sudden question.
Cassie pondered on the question, as she wasn't sure feeling as if you were going to self destruct was ever a good thing. But this girl wasn't anyone she feared (like Clarisse). If anything, it was someone who she was relieved to see and someone she thought about more than she'd like to admit.

Cassie had always admired her, but her feelings had intensified as the years (and near death experiences) went by - it's funny how close you become with the people you narrowly escape death with. Cassie had gone from simply admiring her courage and skills, to admiring little and less obvious things, like the way her face looks when she's concentrated (making training with her increasingly difficult), and the way her eyes would light up whenever she got the opportunity to teach Cassie something new. She had also noticed how beautiful she had become, and picked up on the different hairstyles and outfits she would wear, even if it was something as simple as shorts and a camp shirt.

Cassie thought about her everyday they had been apart, whether something reminded her of her, or simply just wondering what she was doing, and if she was safe. And now that Cassie was back at camp, every time she laid eyes on the girl, her built up feelings would come crashing down on her all at once like a tsunami, and truly made her brain feel as if it was going to self destruct. However, part of her enjoyed the way she made her feel, and she began wanting to spend more and more time with her.

"I think... it's like..." Cassie stuttered out as she tried to figure out her feelings. "It's like I love being around them, but at the same time I feel like I wanna throw up."

Due to the empathy link between them, Grover understood what Cassie meant, but never understood why Cassie suddenly felt like that for seemingly no reason. Like when him, Cassie and Annabeth had sat around the campfire and Annabeth wrapped her arms around the both of them during the sing-a-long. And the other time when Grover had watched Cassie and Annabeth sparring together, and Annabeth managed to pin Cassie down. Suddenly, it all made sense...

"Do you think, there's a slight chance that you might have a... crush on them?" Grover asked. He'd always known Cassie and Annabeth were close, but he never thought they were that close.

"What?!" Cassie exclaimed. The thought that she could possibly have a crush on her best friend had never crossed her mind before. So what if Cassie thought she was pretty, and smart, and talented, and funny? So what if Cassie wanted to spend every moment with her, and was thinking about her, every moment they were apart? Cassie refused to believe that she had a crush on Annabeth - she didn't even like girls... or did she?

Cassie was pretty sure she liked boys. She'd even had a boyfriend when she was 7 for 3 days. They had met at the beach, and went crabbing together - Cassie had liked him, until he started crushing the crabs with rocks. She was so upset that she punched him and dumped him, earning a scolding from the boy's parents - she didn't regret it. Other than that, Cassie hadn't really had a crush on any other boys because she moved schools so often, and most of them were assholes.But then there was Annabeth, who always seemed to leave her heart beating twice as fast - was that what it was like to have a crush?