Like I Can

Not That Way (Sam Smith)

Percy watched as Annabeth swung her denim clad hips out the door. She didn't even know how good she looked. He didn't tell her.

She'd been so happy over the last few weeks - three months to be exact - all because of that Luke person.

She would whistle on her way to work and she would sing in the shower. Percy slunk back in to his bedroom after she had left, he was taking the day off to rekindle his relationship with Rachel. He'd been kind of distant lately, distracted. Annabeth was to blame.

And the thing is, he would have told her when she was twelve and they had just met and she was mourning over the fact she had to move to New York, when her eyes were steely and she needed his hugs but didn't want them.

He could have told her when they were sixteen and alone on the beach at a summer camp. When the sun kissed her already tanned skin and her hair flowed in the breeze.

He kicked himself when he didn't tell her on prom night. The night she had turned every guy down because he wasn't 'the one' and had ended up going with Percy when he told her his date ditched him. She looked somewhat pleased in that moment, as if she had threatened poor Calypso. But she also looked beautiful in her vintage maxidress with her hair cascading down her shoulders.

And he should have let it slip on every one of those days in between, on the days when she wore the pleated skirt of their school uniform, or the pencil skirt that she wore to work, the days when he wanted to be the reason she was smiling.

But he didn't because he knew what she'd say.

He would have been rubbing her back and drying her tears and it would have spilt from his mouth. She would have just pulled back and studied him before whispering "I'm sorry."

Or he would have said it laughingly as they splashed in the water. But he would have been serious. She wouldn't think so though. Do she would have said it back. "I love you, too Seaweed Brain."

He might have whispered it as they slow danced because that's what everyone else was doing. And then he would have rephrased it as, "I'll never let you get away from me again." And she would have looked at him incredulous and at a loss for words and replied. "I promise I'll do the same."

Or he would have shouted it to her as she opened the door to leave for work when she had a piece of toast - breakfast - hanging from her mouth. She would've pried it from her jaws slowly, swallowed and thought of her reply before she said it.

And then she would have looked at him.

Calculating grey meeting vulnerable green.

And he would know her words before she said them.

"Not in that way." And then she would be gone.

Percy palmed his face. Pulled his hair. Repeated the process. He hated that he knew Annabeth so well, knew she didn't feel the same, that she'd fallen for a man that wasn't him. Granted, he was dating Rachel. But that was different. Rachel was more of a stepsister than a marriage candidate. She was almost a way to get Annabeth to notice him. In fact, all of his two girlfriends in his 23 years had been ways to distract himself from Annabeth's beauty and the ache in his chest every time she smiled.

Rachel rang the doorbell. He groaned like the bed as he got up. He knew what he would do.

~

Annabeth was walking to work, an ear bud in. She didn't like the song, it was too sad for her liking. Too real. But she didn't have any skips left. Her mind wandered as she walked the familiar path. Her mind was always wandering to him. It always had.

She had always wondered what he thought of her. She knew what she felt for him, but she also knew him well enough to know exactly what he'd say. He'd say "I'm sorry, I love you, I promise. But not in that way." And them he'd be gone, his exit as silent and stealthy as his entrance, but this time she would recognise the loss. He would pack his bags and be gone by the next morning. Living with Rachel, no doubt.

~

Rachel waltzed into the apartment. She had known this was coming for a while. Both her and Percy had danced around it, avoiding the conversation, but she knew better. She knew how she felt and she could see the way he looked at Annabeth. She wasn't blind. And she wasn't about to stand in the way of something with so much potential and history. Especially when she didn't really want it either.

"Hey Perce." She hugged him in greeting, kissing his cheek. "I don't plan on staying long."

He didn't even look surprised despite the fact he had taken a day off to spend with her. "Look Rachel, we need to talk."

She nodded, thinking the same. "I love you." She blurted, her green eyes meeting his equally as vibrant ones.

"But not in that way." He whispered, she spoke. Both had the same thought and voiced it simultaneously, their voices harmonizing.

They both nodded and Percy hugged her one last time as her boyfriend, confident they would still be friends.

"I shouldn't have to tell you what to do now." She told him. Percy blushed and nodded and gulped. And then she was gone.