Will You Kiss Me? Now?

Annabeth POV

It was strange to hear that Percy went home early, but that's what Grover told us. He put in so much hard work, and he deserved to take the compliments. He should celebrate with everyone and be celebrated by everyone. We wanted to see what's up, which is why some of us decided to surprise him at his swim meet. According to Jason, Districts was one of the more important upper-level competitions.

The first thing I noticed was that there were a lot of half-naked guys and girls in the room. That wasn't a surprise, though, since they were swimmers. However, what was surprising and disappointing was that Percy still had his hoodie on.

The second thing I noticed was that Percy was wearing the swim shorts and cap that I bought him. I never went to any of his swims meets before, so I didn't know for sure if he was actually wearing them. It felt very good to know that Percy liked and used them.

"Hey, bro, what's up?" Jason asked as we approached him.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" he asked in a serious tone.

My smile faltered as I stared at him, but he was avoiding my gaze.

"Seaweed Brain, we came to support you. Why are you serious right now?"

"Look, you guys didn't have to come."

"Percy, we thought that you'd be excited to see us here." My voice quieted as I continued, "Is this about what happened yesterday? Between us?"

Piper, Jason, and Thalia kind of moved back a little. The conversation was solely between me and him now. Percy finally met my gaze.

"Annabeth, I know that it was just a part of the show, so let's just move on," he said with a sigh.

While I kept a straight face on the outside, Percy's words hurt a lot. Did he seriously not feel anything when I felt everything? Sometimes, Percy was just infuriating.

"Why didn't you stay after the show?"

"Because I had to make sure I was ready for today. Districts are very important for the season."

"Percy, I'm not buying it. You have this in the bag since you're literally the best swimmer here," Piper said with confidence.

Before the conversation could continue, the announcer started to direct everyone to their positions and settle down. The competition would start soon. Once I made my way back to the stands, I noticed Sally and Mr. Blofis in the front row. Sally looked concerned.

"Hi, Sally," I greeted her politely.

She smiled at us before telling us to sit. We all got seated, but Sally's nervousness was tangible. Something happened yesterday. I watched Percy get up and go towards the pool. Everyone was allowed to warm up, and it was finally our school's turn.

I gasped as Percy took off his hoodie. He had a bad bluish-reddish bruise across the left side of his abdomen. He definitely had some damaged ribs.

"Why the hell is he swimming today? Wait, how did he even get that?" I practically shouted with anger. My friends had no clue, and the Blofis' didn't say anything.

***

"Seaweed Brain, wait," I called out as I ran towards him. The competition took several hours to fully finish. It was already 6 pm when everyone was dismissed. Since Percy came with his parents, he could leave with them.

He stopped and turned around. His parents went inside the car to give us some privacy.

"Annabeth, I'm really not in the mood to-"

"Percy, you did well. You ranked 6th in the tournament. That's amazing, and you qualified for regionals."

"I was projected to be 1st, and I could've done so much better. Look Annabeth, I really don't want to talk to you right now."

"Too bad, Seaweed," I said angrily. "Why are you like this today? Percy, what happened to you?" I asked while reaching out to his abdomen. I could feel the tenderness of his bruise through his t-shirt.

He winced but didn't pull away. Somehow, it was like my touch was helping him.

"Swimming is very important to me Wise Girl. It's one of the only things I've always had throughout my life, through the pain of my dad abandoning me and through Gabe's abuse."

I just stared at him quietly. I didn't know about his actual dad. My mom died, but that was very different than a parent purposefully leaving you. That must've been so hard.

My voice was quiet but firm, "Seaweed Brain, you can still swim. You'll be back to normal in a few days."

He listened and internalized my words quietly.

"This was Luke, wasn't it?"

He nodded. Gods, I hated Luke; he was such a bad person. Unlike Rachel, I wasn't sure that Luke was capable of change. At least, not now.

"Percy-"

"Wise Girl, please. I can't be around you right now."

"ME," I squealed in surprise.

"Yes, Annabeth, don't you see. It's so hard to be around you with all my feelings. It's so hard to pull out of your kiss on stage. It hurts so much to be near you and pretend."

I had no words to say.

It felt somehow amazing to know how Percy felt even though he was hurting.

"I gotta go, Wise Girl. See you at Monday's show," he said quietly and sadly before leaving.

As I rode home with my friends, I couldn't get Percy out of my mind. I was going to tell him how I feel because I was confident that he was the best person to be around me. Percy was the person that would always care for me the most. I realized that even when I wasn't loving myself or when I was fighting with him, he'd still love and care for me.

***

Monday's show ended great. Everyone in the cast gave a very strong performance. Percy seemed to have physically healed a bit, so his singing and dancing were fine. However, he had been avoiding since Saturday after confessing his feelings.

Our feelings were stuff that we didn't talk about, especially after our fight a few months ago. We didn't want to risk our relationship, but neither of us could deny it anymore.

I would be getting a ride home from Thalia, who was waiting for me in the auditorium. I had to change out of the Jenny Lind costume, which was a tedious process because of how large and complex it was. I walked into changing room #2 (ie one of the classrooms that the theatre kids took over) where my clothes were.

Almost everyone had left, but Percy was still here. I watched as he carefully took off his white dress shirt while wincing in pain. He still couldn't fully stretch his chest/abdomen.

I walked into the room. Percy's eyes locked onto me as he set down his shirt, but he turned away quickly.

I sighed, "Okay, Seaweed Brain, we need to talk."

"Annabeth, we really don't-"

"Yes, we do," I said firmly to shut him up.

"Annabeth, can we just-"

"No, we can't."

He groaned in annoyance as he slammed his hand on the desk. "Oh my god, what do you want from me, Annabeth? You just don't get how much this hurts."

"Yes, I do," I said as I walked towards him, maneuvering the beautiful gown around the desks until I was in front of him.

He stepped back. "No, you don't. Otherwise, you wouldn't be doing this."

I took a deep breath before speaking. "Percy, we kissed on stage, and I think-"

"Wise Girl, please. It's not like you have feelings for me."

"What?!"

"Come on, Annabeth. I know how you feel. It's all a part of the show, I get that."

"Percy, no it's not. Just listen to me," I said firmly again.

He seemed exhausted, but his voice was gradually elevating with each sentence. "What, are you kidding? I know the kiss means nothing. It's not like you'll kiss me now. Will you kiss me? Now? I don't think-"

He was interrupted by my lips smashing onto his. He was frozen for a second before kissing back. I stepped closer to Percy which forced him to lean back against the desk. Our lips moved in sync as my hands found his hair and his hands wrapped around my waist. It was the best kiss, filled with all the feelings that we were holding in.

I broke away first to catch some air, but we didn't pull away. My body was leaning into his as his forehead rested against mine. He gulped a breath before smiling. I smiled back.

We were both so happy right now.

Percy leaned forward and planted another soft, passionate kiss on my lips.

That was arguably one of the best moments of my life. It would be remembered as the moment when Percy and I became an Us.