Eyes like the Ocean

five

 One morning, Thalia burst into Annabeth's room, announcing that they needed to have a day together.

"We barely hangout," she claimed.

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed, hopping off her bed. "You've been gone so much lately going God knows where." Thalia narrowed her eyes like she wanted to say something, but she straightened up and dropped it.

"We're going to the mall in twenty," she said. "And no, Percy's not allowed to come." Annabeth wanted to say that she wasn't going to invite him, but Thalia walked out of her room, leaving her to get changed. She could tell that her friend wanted to get something off her chest, so Annabeth got ready quickly and left her room in a rush with only her phone in her hand. She ran straight into Percy.

"Jesus, in a rush?" he asked. She blushed and looked up, realizing that he was holding her pretty close. He froze, the smile melting off of his face. They stared at each other. For the past few days, they'd been having some awkwardness in their friendship. Whenever Percy came near her, Annabeth wasn't sure if he was going to kiss her. Not to mention the fact that Thalia was always giving them disapproving glares, even when they were just having a conversation.

"Guys?"

Annabeth shoved Percy away from her and straightened at the sound of Thalia's voice.

"Yeah?" she asked. Thalia rolled her eyes angrily.

"I'll be in the car."

Annabeth watched her go down the stairs and sighed. She would definitely be hearing about that today.

"I'm sorry," Percy said. She turned around and smiled weakly.

"It's okay, idiot." Before she could leave, though, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, causing Annabeth to blush instantly. It wasn't a fast kiss either. His lips lingered on her face, leaving little tingles that sprouted from the place to where his lips touched all the way down to her toes. Annabeth felt her knees buckle, but she refused to fall.

"Have fun, Princess," he whispered. Just because he'd gotten her so worked up, Annabeth stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek, too, messing up his hair a little. She smirked right before heading down the stairs, but didn't leave until she looked up to find Percy looking straight ahead at a wall, holding his cheek with a dreamy expression on his face.

The car ride to the mall wasn't very talkative, and Annabeth ended up spending a lot of time looking out the window. She missed the rides with Percy and his horrible singing.

Finally, they got to the mall. They started off at Urban Outfitters, even though they both had no money (Thalia had left her dad's credit card at home, and he'd taken the other one with him on the business trip) and no intention of buying anything. Thalia started fidgeting until Annabeth couldn't take it anymore and told her to spill it.

"Who have you been hanging out with?" she asked. "And don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about..."

"Relax. I've just been...hanging out with myself lately, you know? Just a little me time-"

"Bullshit." Annabeth got in front of Thalia. "Who is it? Why won't you just tell me?"

"Annabeth, it's not that easy. You'll freak, even though me and him are just friends...it's just a weird situation, okay?"

"You don't have to-" Thalia's phone started to ring, and with some hesitation, she took it out of her back pocket. Annabeth barely got a glimpse of the contact before she answered it. But what she saw was clear. She finally understood why Thalia had been so secretive.