True Love [Percabeth]

Three - 'Accidental Swim'

There's another show on at the aquarium this afternoon, but this time I'm not there for the show. Today, I'm there to complete my designs.

As I watch from above, I see that Percy has seen me in the crowd. He winks at me before directing his dolphins to do a double flip. I sigh and shake my head as I begin to draw. The pencil slides across the paper as I sketch, then pause. I've drawn a majestic building with a high arched entrance and tall standing columns. It looks like something from Ancient Greece.

I scrunch up my nose and add some large windows. By the time I'm finished, it looks satisfactory and everyone has left. As I go to turn around, someone shouts my name.

"Annabeth!" It's Percy. He's still in the pool.

"Um, hi?" I say, blushing. I lean over the railing and stare down at him.

"Come down," he says.

"Um... am I allowed to?" I ask, not wanting to get into trouble for being out of bounds.

He laughs. "Of course! You're with me."

I go out of the balcony viewing platform and down the stairs and into the restricted area by the pool. I put my bag down on a bench and walk to the edge of the pool where Percy is sitting.

"What were you drawing?" He asks as he stands up.

"Just something for my architecture class." I reply.

He raises an eyebrow. "You do architecture?"

"Yeah, duh." I roll my eyes. "What do you do? Marine Biology?"

"Actually, I do." He laughs.

"Seriously?" I say.

"Yeah, of course. I work at an aquarium."

Suddenly, one of the dolphins comes up to the side of the pool. Percy turns to face the dolphin and uses some kind of hand gesture and the dolphin zooms off.

"What's his name?" I ask.

"Blackjack." Percy says. "And that's Guido." He points to the other dolphin.

"The show was incredible." I say truthfully. "I really enjoyed it."

"Thanks." Percy grins. I smile in reply.

"Listen, I should go." I glance behind me at the door awkwardly.

"Okay, well it was nice speaking to you." Percy turns to face where Blackjack and Guido are leaping along the surface of the water.

I take a step towards the door, not estimating how slippery the ground was where there were some mats and suddenly find the world dropping around me. There's a splash and I'm suddenly submerged in water.

The pool is deep. I resurface and take a gulp of air. As I try to stay afloat, I see that Percy has gotten in beside me. He hauls me up using his strong arms and I find myself falling back onto him. Percy grips my waist tightly as we float on the water. I turn my head to look at him. We're so close, I can feel his breath fanning my face. And then we both burst out laughing.

"Oh, my gosh!" Percy cries, laughing as we bob up and down.

"I didn't expect to go swimming!" I laugh.

"Do you mean an 'accidental swim'?" Percy smirks.

I blush and turn away from him. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

Percy releases his grip slightly and swims over to the ladder. "Whatever you say, Wise Girl."