Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase: Parental Approval [Completed]

10: We Can Still Have a Normal Life

"How are you sure I'll pass?" Percy asked Annabeth uncertainly. 

"Percy," Annabeth took his hands into her own. "I have my ultimate faith in you. You'll pass," Annabeth pecked Percy on his lips. Percy smirked and looked down. 

Then, his smile faltered. "I'm scared, Wise girl. I want to be with you, regardless of what your mom 'deems'... But I also want you to love me and by loving me all the way I feel like your mom's approval has something to do with it."

"Percy that's idiotic, stupid. My mom has nothing to do with my feelings for you."

They were standing in the middle of an apartment and house agency in Connecticut, not extremely far from the camp. Athena told the two of them that they had a break for a little under one condition. Annabeth and Percy could not stop blushing after Athena told them the condition. They weren't that far into their relationship, but eventually it would get there. Just not yet! 

Despite her word, Percy wasn't sure he could believe they had an actual break period, so he didn't let his guard down.

 In the agency, pictures of houses and apartments lined the walls, with prices and short descriptions below each picture. Percy and Annabeth were just looking for an apartment to move into, preferably one in the city where Percy could get a job and Annabeth could continue working at her architect internship downtown.  

Percy and Annabeth had been there once before and agreed to go on home tours with their agent. The agent who had been helping them walked out from the back with two files in his hands. 

"Are we ready to go look at some apartments?"

"Yes," Percy said as Annabeth said "Yep."

Annabeth drove with Percy in the passenger seat, tailing their agent in the car in front. 

The first apartment they saw was a small one, with one kitchen, one bedroom, and one bathroom. The kitchen functioned as a living room and kitchen, so it was extremely small. 

"I figured you guys would have a pretty low budget, as we didn't really discuss that last time. This is the cheapest living area in all of Connecticut."

Percy looked around with his lip between his teeth. Annabeth could tell he didn't like the apartment. She didn't either. 

"Don't worry about budget. We have... connections for money," Percy told the agent. 

"O.K. Just don't rely on them too hard," He chuckled. 

They left the apartment, waiting inside their cars for two minutes for the agent to make a quick phone call. 

"Did you like it?" Percy asked Annabeth. 

"No. No. I really hated it... I think I saw termites?"

Percy gagged and Annabeth laughed at his face. Annabeth looked at him with a smile on her face. She rested her forearm on the wheel and leaned her forehead down onto it. Percy tilted his head to match her angle. "What?" he whispered to her. 

"I'm so lucky you're actually doing the challenges. That you're putting real effort into them."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Percy put his fingers under her chin and she shut her eyes. 

"I don't know. Maybe other guys would just accept defeat right away and back away from the girlfriend and the challenge. Maybe--" Annabeth stopped talking as she felt a soft breeze on her chin. "Percy?" 

"Hmm?"

"How close are you to me?" Annabeth grinned, her eyes still closed. 

"Very close," he whispered. He put his lips on hers just as her elbow slipped and pressed on the car horn. 

"Crap!" Annabeth yelled as she moved her elbow from the horn. 

The agent looked over and squinted at them, his phone in his pocket. Annabeth raised her hand in apology. He laughed and shook his head before beckoning them to follow him to the next apartment as he entered his car. 

The next apartment had a kitchen, dining/living room, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. It was more a fit for them and the rent was really cheap. 

"Why is it so... inexpensive?" Annabeth asked. 

"The air conditioner is broken and there may or may not be a mouse problem..." The agent said, reading off of the file in his hands. He rubbed the back of his neck, which was red in embarrassment.

"Let's look at the next apartment, yeah?" Percy asked Annabeth. She laughed and nodded her head briskly. 

"Yes please."

"Here is the file of the next apartment. It's quite a while from here, so maybe you should look at the pictures and read the information before we get there."

"Alright, thanks." Annabeth took the file and brought it into the car with her. While she turned on the ignition, Percy started reading. It took a while. 

"Oh, it's nice..." He started off.

"Perce, can you read the info?"

"Um... A d...d.. beautiful... lin...lin... living area, fur...fur... furnished with a b..b.. bining table--"

"Dining table." Annabeth nodded her head, changing lanes to follow the agent. 

"And couch. A sleek, mo...mobern-- no modern kitchen. Two... bedrooms and three... bathrooms. Wow. Three bathrooms! I call two of them!" Percy exclaimed. Annabeth laughed.

"Wait. As a girl, don't I get to have two bathrooms? To fill up with all my makeup?" Percy and Annabeth laughed. He pecked her cheek as she changed lanes again. 

"You, wise girl, don't need makeup." Annabeth smiled and took Percy's hand into her own. "Annabeth... Both hands on the wheel!" Percy exclaimed, grinning. 

Annabeth rolled her eyes and muttered, "Seaweed Brain." She put both hands on the wheel.

"Wait, but don't let go of me." Percy took her hand and held it, despite just telling her to keep both hands on the wheel. What could he say, he missed her!

They parked in front of a large building, around 20 stories high. Percy and Annabeth hopped out of the car, Percy automatically wrapping his arm around her waist. The agent led them into the air conditioned building, showed the the security guard the file and received a key in return, and led them up the elevator. 

They listened to "Smooth Operator" as the elevator rose. When it reached the 16th floor (Percy frowned that the agent didn't take them to some mystical place like Mt. Olympus, like when in the Empire State Building the floors extended beyond the elevator buttons ), Annabeth and Percy followed the agent into the apartment. It looked nice, like the pictures had shown, and it felt home-y in a way. It wasn't as "modern", as the description had said. It even reminded Percy of his home with Sally. 

The rent made him whistle. They were working with a pretty high budget, but this went above what they were willing to pay. Or what Camp was willing to cover. 

Annabeth came up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I really like it Seaweed Brain."

"It's above our budget."

"I know..."

"But maybe I can ask my dad to pull some strings?" 

"Percy! It's OK. We can find something else-- Percy." Annabeth's eyes got large while she put her hand to where her dagger rested. 

"What?" He looked behind him to find a gruesome monster dripping in a disgusting substance, with no mist covering him. 

Percy. Choose. Athena spoke to his mind. Protect Annabeth from the monster or prevent the mortal you cal your "agent" from seeing the monster. You have one minute for time to stop and to think of who to save and how. 

One minute to save one's sanity or life. 

Go. 

Thank you for waiting! I hope you enjoyed! Please shoot me a comment if the tense is screwed anywhere in this chapter (or any chapter really). I might have jumped from past to present, but it was supposed to be past. Thanks!