beauty and the beast ⋮ percabeth au

9.

It's been three weeks since I finally realized I like Percy, and it hasn't gotten any better for me. If anything, it's gotten worse — both my feelings and Hazel and Pipers teasing.

The fact Percy's about to come over to my house to hang out and watch movies doesn't make things any better.

Thankfully, the step-monster is away for the weekend. The only reason I had even taken the risk to invite him over is because I knew she'd be away I wouldn't dare have Percy over when Helen could come home.

Having just gotten off the phone with the pizza place — Percy has an infinite love (and appetite for) of pepperoni pizza — I figured that since I had about thirty minutes until he came over I would practice dancing a little more.

With all the time 'Beauty and the Beast' has been taking up, its been pretty much impossible to find extra time to practice my dance routines. It doesn't help that I get about three hours of homework every night when I come home.

I pressed the sofa and chair to one side of the living room wall, giving myself some space to dance. The floors were — unfortunately — hardwood so if I didn't want to slip while dancing I had to be extremely careful. Hitting play on my phone, I let the music fill the empty rooms of my house, echoing across the walls.

Over and over I rehearsed that contemporary dance, striving for perfection with every single move I did. I tuned out the world around me, only playing attention to what my next move was and the music.

So of course, it was a little bit of a shock to me when Percy decided to walk through my unlocked door fifteen minutes earlier than when he was supposed to.

"Hey Annabeth!" Percy called out, peering into the living room with a large grin on his face.

Screaming, I slipped and fell, my head crashing onto the wooden floors. "What the crap Percy? Why did you just come in here unannounced?"

"I'm sorry!" Percy ran over, helping me off the ground. "But I knocked five times and you hadn't answered and I saw it was unlocked, so I decided to come in."

I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Yeah it was stupid, I know." Percy sighed, holding up a grocery bag I hadn't seen until that moment. "But I brought food for our movie night! Your personal favorite, Reese's Pieces, my Sour Stripes, microwaveable popcorn, ice cream bars, and Diet Coke."

"God, that's just what I needed." Reaching over, I grabbed the bag and set it onto the kitchen counter. "Pizza will be here in about ten minutes, what do you want to know in the mean time?"

Percy hesitated before speaking. "Dance for me."

My head snapped towards his. "What is it with you and having me dance and sing for you?"

He shrugged. "It's mesmerizing, you're quite beautiful." Percy quickly realize what just slipped out of his mouth and quickly tried to correct himself, blood rushing to his cheeks. "W-what I mean is that y-you are a beautiful s-singer and d-dancer. Yeah, that's it."

I raised an eyebrow. "Alright, but go sit by the bench over there. I'm not risking accidentally kicking you in the nose. And I'm only dancing. Clear?

"Aye-aye captain." Percy grinned, giving me the two-fingered salute and sitting down in a chair by the bench.

Sighing, I started the song over again and began dancing. The entire time I could feel Percy's gaze piercing into me, analyzing every single move I made.

As soon as it finished, Percy stood up and started whooping and clapping his hands. "Yes Wise Girl! I'm you're number one fan!"

I was about to tell him to shut up when the piercing sound of a doorbell rang through the home. "I'll get that, it's probably the pizza."

When I came back with the pizza, Percy was already sitting on the couch with blankets and various food items sitting on the coffee table. "Well someone's prepared," I smirked. "What movie do you want to watch first?"

Percy held up a DVD cover and I had to move closer to read the title properly. "Seriously Seaweed Brain? 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'? Did not expect that from you."

"It's a classic!" Percy defended. "Now get over here and show me how to put the movie in."

"Okay bossy-pants," I rolled my eyes. "Don't need to get so pushy. Let me grab the plates first."

Once we had settled in and were watching the movie, I couldn't help but notice Percy doing a few things. One, he would continually glance over at me a foot or so away from him. Two, Percy's hand was inching towards mine every couple minutes and I was internally screaming for him to finally just grab.

Finally, I ended up making a move. Wrapping a blanket around myself, I leaned over and rested my head on his shoulder. Even without looking up I could see the grin his face grow wider and wider.

Halfway through the movie I began dozing off. The week has been exhausting and the combination of the warmth caused by the blankets and Percy's arm that had made its way around my shoulders a while back had taken a toll on me.

Slowly, I raised my head off his shoulder and into his lap, my eyes fighting to stay open. A while ago I had let my ponytail out so my curls spread a across his lap. Percy's hands had quickly made its way towards my locks and now his hands were playing with it.
Normally, my heart would had exploded from my chest by this point but I was so tired I barely even felt it.

By the end of the movie, I had reached the stage where I just couldn't keep my eyes open. Percy seemed to recognize that as he sat there with me, unmoving with the exception of his hands.

I felt him lean down and I registered the fact that a pair of lips had just touched the crown of my head. "Night Wise Girl."

Right after that, I thought I heard Percy whisper something to himself quietly. At that point however I was completely exhausted so I let the darkness of sleep take over.

•••

Hi guys!

Okay so I'm getting hecka confused because Wattpad showing me that over a hundred or so people have read each chapter but there's only like 10 votes on every chapter ???? If y'all are reading my books please just vote when you read it really means a lot to me :))

Halloween is in a couple days and I am freaking out !!! I love Halloween w/ all my heart. This year I'm going as Velma from Scooby Doo because according to everyone I look and act exactly like her (minus the bangs).

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a vote and comment! Love you all!

- G ♥️