Greatest Love Story- A Percabeth AU [On Hold]

Chapter 10

Annabeth's POV:

Almost as soon as I park the car in front of Percy's house, he jumps out and yells for me to "come on!" I stifle a laugh. Clearly he is excited to be home, and I would be lying if I said that it wasn't one of the cutest things I've seen all day.

Percy's mom must have heard us pull up, or something, because even before Percy gets to the door, she is pulling it open from inside.

Before Percy's mom-- Ms. Jackson? Mrs. Blofis? I'm not sure what she would prefer-- even steps out the door, she notices me and says "Percy, you didn't tell me you were having a friend over." For a moment I'm afraid she's upset that I showed up here with her son unexpectedly, but the warm smile on her face and the tone of her voice-- curious, more than anything-- suggest the opposite.

I step forward to introduce myself and shake her hand. At the same time she steps out of the house and I notice her protruding stomach. It almost looks like she is trying to hide a basketball under her shirt, but it isn't hard to tell what it really is. Percy is going to have another half-sibling-- in just a few months, by the looks of it.

I only get distracted by that for a second, though, before I put my hand out to shake hers. "I'm Annabeth Chase, and I'm tutoring Percy," I tell her. "It's nice to meet you, m-" I hesitate, still unsure of what to call her.

She shakes my hand, although for a moment I think she might pull me into a hug instead. "Oh, just call me Sally, dear," she tells me, ushering me inside. Percy follows us, and a quick glance at him tells me he is suddenly afraid his mom will say something embarrassing.

She is telling us we can work here, in the living room, or we can go upstairs to Percy's room, when a timer goes off in what I assume is the kitchen. "Oh, the cookies are ready. I'll stop distracting you so you can get to work," she tells us as she hurries out of the room.

Percy looks at me awkwardly for a moment, then says "Let's go up to my room, I guess."

"Um, sure," I respond, just as awkward.

So, I follow Percy up the stairs and down a short hallway to his room. I look into one open door as we pass, and see a nursery, with grey and white furniture and cheery blue walls.

"So, you're going to have another half-sibling, huh?" I ask him.

"Is it that obvious?" He asks sarcastically as we walk into his room.

"Another brother?" I guess, laughing. I figure it's a safe guess, since the nursery was blue and most people use the "blue for boys, pink for girls" color scheme.

Percy is laughing too as he tells me "Actually, my parents decided to wait and be surprised. We just have a blue obsession in this house, that's why the baby's room is blue."

Now that I think about it, there is a lot of blue in the house. Of course, Percy's room is just as blue as the rest of the house, if not more. The walls are painted a navy blue that for a moment I think might actually be black, the floor is covered in a lighter, ocean blue carpet, and a teal bedspread with a pattern of small fish on it covers the bed. These colors shouldn't all work together, but somehow they do, and almost make it feel like I'm underwater.

"We should get to work," I say after a moment.

Percy agrees and we sit down to finish figuring out how this will work. I end up sitting cross-legged on his bed while he sits in the chair in front of his desk, spinning himself back and forth absent-mindedly.

Right as we start talking, though, Percy's mom comes into the room carrying a plate of chocolate chip cookies. They smell amazing, and they're clearly still hot, but... They're blue. Seriously, they're the brightest blue I've ever seen any food be. Sally leaves the plate of cookies on Percy's desk, and walks out of the room. As she leaves, she reminds us to "Be sure to leave this door open," with a wink.

I feel my cheeks heat up at this implication, and a blush creeps across Percy's face, too.

I decide to change the subject. "So, why are the cookies blue?" I ask, hesitantly taking the plate when Percy hands it to me after taking a cookie for himself.

"Like I said before, blue obsession. Try one. They're amazing." He tells me, taking a bite of his.

I still think it's a bit odd, but they do smell amazing, so I pick one up and take a small bite. The chocolate is melting, and the cookies are soft and warm. They're sweet, but the chocolate must be dark chocolate, cutting the sweetness just right. They are probably the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I've ever had.

"Okay, you're right. They're good." I concede. He gives me a look that seems to say I told you so.

Just then I remember that we need a picture of us working together. "We need proof that we're together," I sigh, pulling out my phone. I walk over to stand behind Percy and we take a selfie to prove that we're at least in the same room. As I walk back across the room, I notice that I've gotten a text from Piper, asking me for "details! Please!"

I quickly type and send "txt u l8r, still w/ him." I normally wouldn't use so much text-speak, but I'm trying to type quickly. Seconds after I hit send, I swear I hear faint, excited screaming from somewhere in the direction of Piper's house.

Percy and I finally get back to creating our plan. Originally we were going to meet on the days I didn't have to watch my brothers, but today worked so well-- surprisingly-- that we decided to switch to doing it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Percy doesn't usually have to watch his brother, but he says he can probably convince his step mother to let him do it anyway, which will definitely make it easier to deal with Bobby and Mathew.

Even though we try to stay focused while discussing this, we still get off track a few times, so it's almost time for dinner when we finish.

We walk downstairs, and as I prepare to leave, Sally stops me. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I made plenty." (My siblings are obsessed with the movie, Mulan, and my family recently got Disney+, so all I can think here is... "Would you like to stay for dinner?" "Would ya like ta stay forever?!")

"That sounds lovely, really, but I should get home before my mom starts to worry. Thank you, though," I tell her, wishing that I could stay longer. This house seems much more cozy and inviting than either of my parents' houses.

As I walk out the door, Sally tells me that I'm welcome to come over any time and I grin as I tell her that I will keep that in mind.

I sit in my car in front of their house, holding onto this happy feeling for a few extra minutes before driving home.

Look! Another chapter! I know I said in the last chapter that I would be updating in just a couple days, but that, of course, didn't really happen. I spent most of my free time repeatedly stabbing something in a specific pattern, just because the end result is pretty (in other words, I was making a cross-stitch). It was for the teacher I shadowed this year, so I wanted to finish it as quickly as possible so I could give it to her. It was my first cross-stitch, so it took longer than I expected, and I didn't even really plan to do it until my mom found the pattern and got it to do herself as a baby gift for a family friend (officially it was supposed to be a birth announcement, but with a couple changes, it became a perfect classroom decoration). So yeah, I will try to update as soon as possible, but no promises will be made. Sound good? If not, well, too bad.

I now officially have at least 2 people that read this story (I only know that you are one of my readers if you comment, because otherwise all of my reads could easily be one person re-reading it multiple times,  or all of the times I've gone back to check details while I'm writing), so please comment if you're lurking (and even if you aren't lurking, please comment, because I get really excited whenever I get a comment on this story).

Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it.

Cam💖💖