PJO One Shots
The Dress
Percy crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in the chair as he waited. Annabeth had insisted on going to his senior Prom at Goode, a fact that he had promised to hide from anyone else—except for Grover, of course…and Nico…and Chiron…oh, and Tyson—but he hadn’t known at the time that that would entail sitting through hours of her trying on dresses and shoes.
“How about this one?” she asked, stepping out of the dressing room and revealing a dress that was a deep, sapphire shade of blue. It was strapless and had little folds of black and white. She was absolutely breathtaking in that dress, just as she had been in all the other twenty or so dresses she had tried on.
“It’s gorgeous, Annabeth.”
“That’s what you said last time!” she whined.
He ran a hand through his hair, smirking. “Can I help it if my girlfriend is gorgeous?” They both heard various, “Awww…”s from the other dressing stalls and Percy smiled. “How about the green one? You looked fantastic in the green one.”
“Yeah, but I can’t find the right shoes to go with it.”
“Okay, so go grab another dress. I’m not going anywhere.”
She made a face like she was channeling her mother and looked back down at her dress. “Well…I do like the green one. It matches your eyes.”
“You really hate trying on all these dresses, don’t you?”
“Yes!” she whined. “And then I have to get my nails done and my hair and find the right shoes and go to Victoria’s Secret, and get the right shade of makeup, and…” She groaned. “Being a girl is so hard.”
Percy pulled her into his arms, giving her a long, warm, comforting hug. “You know, for Prom we could just stay in and watch movies. You could just wear sweatpants and your camp shirt.”
She smacked him lightly and whispered against his chest, “Well, aren’t you romantic, Percy Jackson.”
He released his hold slightly so he could look down at her eyes. She was so beautiful… “You don’t have to try to look fantastic, Annabeth. You’re breathtaking. The makeup and the shoes and the nails don’t matter as long as I have you.”
There was a pause as she looked for the right words.
“So, the green one?”
The Movie
It was Saturday night. Annabeth had promised she would come over to Percy’s and spend the night watching movies and pizza in his crappy little apartment. He dropped the warm pizza box on the table in front of the TV, returning to the kitchen to grab the bowl of popcorn and the Root-Beer.
Then the doorbell rang. He sprinted to the door and threw it open.
It had been months since he’d seen her. Sure, it was their first year at NYU and things were stressful, but that was no excuse. At least for Annabeth. She was too smart to worry about things like grades.
She grinned. “Hey there, Seaweed Brain.”
The corners of his lips turned up—high. “Oh, I’ve missed you, Wise Girl.”
They collapsed on the couch, Annabeth turning on the movie she had brought.
“Really?” Percy complained. “This movie is such a chick flick.”
“27 Dresses is a cinematic masterpiece.”
He laughed and pulled Annabeth closer. “Uh huh, sure.”
A couple hours later they turned on another movie, a gorier movie that Percy had chosen. Annabeth hid her eyes against his chest as the main character slaughtered a monster.
“Oh, please, Annabeth, you faced scarier monsters than that.”
“Shut up.”
Even later, a while past midnight, Annabeth looked up at Percy, away from the sappy moment on screen. The main couple in the movie were on the sidewalk in NYC, rain pouring down in buckets, making out like tomorrow. As if on cue, thunder rumbled outside, reminding Percy that winter showers were beginning.
“They could probably make out inside, ya know,” he pointed out. “It would be…dry.”
“You’re missing the romance of it.”
“They’re gonna catch a cold.”
“Shut up, Seaweed Brain.”
“There’s nothing romantic about sneezing and hacking and—”
“If you don’t shut up, I’ll go kiss you in the rain and then you’ll understand the romance of it,” she muttered, still watching the movie. The girl on screen turned to walk away and the man chased after her before grabbing her hands and hurriedly saying the words every girl wanted to hear. Percy almost hurled at that moment.
“Oh, my gods, this is absolute bull.”
She elbowed him and reached for the remote. When the movie was paused, she yanked him off the couch and walked outside to the fire escape. He looked up at the rain. Annabeth made a silent prayer to Zeus, wishing for harder, bigger raindrops.
Apparently the god was paying attention. They were both soaked to the skin soon.
“Can I go back inside now?” Percy said teasingly.
Her fingers gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him towards her. “Not quite yet, Percy. You need your punishment first.”
iPod
Annabeth pressed shuffle on Percy’s iPod and nearly dropped the little device when the first song came on. She stuck the second headphone in her ear to make sure she was hearing this correctly. Laughing silently, she placed the device into her back pocket and wandered out into the living room of her apartment, singing the words.
Percy was in the kitchen. He popped his head out. His jaw dropped.
“I didn’t know you could sing,” he mumbled.
“I didn’t know you had Kiss the Girl from The Little Mermaid on your iPod.”
Perfect
“I love you,” he said calmly, his arm around her shoulders as they sat on the couch and watched TV together one night after class at NYU.
She looked up at him. “Wh-what?”
“I said I love you,” he repeated, meeting her eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you that, so I just…wanted to make sure you knew.”
And he turned his head back to the TV, leaving Annabeth in stunned silence. She’d thought their “I love you” moments would be movie-like and romantic. This wasn’t the least bit romantic, but it was…perfect, because the words were coming from Percy’s lips.
“I love you, too, you know,” she said.
He nodded, rubbing her shoulder casually. “I know.”
Annabeth smiled. She knew it wasn’t anything like she had pictured or planned, but it was undeniably perfect. It wasn’t like a scene or movie, but it hit her heart. This was the exact moment she wanted, she realized.
Permission
Frederick Chase met Percy at the door as he knocked on the door of his home in San Francisco. Percy nodded at Annabeth father, giving a smile.
“Mr. Chase,” he said. “I have a question for you.”
“Your email didn’t say much, Percy,” Mr. Chase began as he let Percy into his house. He led him past the kitchen, past the living room, past the stairs and into his study. Percy took a seat when motioned to. “What exactly required you flying down from New York to talk to me in person?”
Percy opened his mouth to correct him—he hadn’t flown, he had taken a long cross country train trip, not wishing to be shot out of the sky by his uncle—but then stopped and just smiled. “I have a question about…Annabeth.”
Frederick nodded. “Go ahead.”
Percy reached into his jacket pocket and produced a small black box. He handed it to the older man across from him and said, “I want permission to marry your daughter.”
Fear
Their fingers interlaced, they walked down Broadway. It was late, and dark out, but you could never tell. People were everywhere. Lights were still on. Cars were still blaring music and/or their horns, and music and loud noises could be heard from surrounding apartments and restaurants. It was New York. No one slept here.
Percy squeezed her hand as they crossed the street. She squeezed back, smiling to herself. And then Percy’s heart stopped as he realized, the guy that had been behind them for the last two blocks was crossing the street with them. He didn’t look like a particularly scary guy, but Percy wasn’t taking any chances, especially since the guy was glaring right at him, pointedly.
His first instinct was that it was a monster.
“Come on,” he mumbled, tugging her in the direction of a crowded theatre exit. When they made it out the other end, the guy was still there, on their tail. Percy cussed. He wouldn’t lead the guy back home, or to Annabeth’s. This guy wasn’t a monster. At least not of the mythological/magical kind.
“Percy?” Annabeth said, startled when her boyfriend began looking behind them so often and walking faster and faster. “Something wrong?”
“A guy’s tailing us.”
So straight forward. He looked at the reaction that caused from his girlfriend, but got nothing but a firm nod. “I noticed him a while back. I thought I was overreacting.”
“Yeah, well, you weren’t.”
He tugged her over to a subway entrance, somewhere it was dark and he could get away easily. They went down the stairs quickly. But he followed them. Percy cussed.
Suddenly, before Percy could blink, the guy reached forward and grabbed Annabeth’s wrist, yanking her towards him. Percy snapped, lunged forward and knocked the guy down. He had no real weapons that would work on the mortal, so he simply pulled back his fist and let it fly.
Annabeth watched, her eyes never leaving Percy. When he stood, he hurried over to her and hugged her against his chest.
“No problem,” he muttered, stroking her hair. “Idiot is drunk out of his mind.”
“Impressive punch, Seaweed Brain,” she said into his chest. She then looked up and smiled teasingly, “But I think I could’ve done better.”
Planning and Fleeing
Percy looked down at the paper in front of him and began to read off the names of the men he had picked to be his groomsmen.
“Grover, Nico, Tyson, Malcolm”—Annabeth’s half brother and Percy had gotten close ever since they had started dating, mainly since he was the only boy in the Athena cabin that cared much about Annabeth and Percy’s intentions—“and…that’s it.” He looked up at his fiancée. “What about you?”
“Uh, Thalia, Rachel, Juniper, and Mackey.” Mackey was her long time roommate.
Percy smiled. “I’m sure Clarisse would be so hurt.”
“Shut up, Seaweed Brain.”
“What about the dresses?”
Annabeth shrugged. “I don’t know—pink?”
“Your decision.”
“I’ll go shopping with Thalia. What are you doing about the tuxes?”
“Grover and Nico are helping me out.”
“Okay—let’s order the couples,” she said, grabbing her pencil.
“Wait, what?”
Annabeth rolled her eyes. Percy didn’t understand anything about weddings. The groomsmen were going to have to walk down the aisle with a bridesmaid on their arm. In order of importance to the wedding party it would have to go--
“Thalia walks with Grover, Nico with Rachel, Tyson with Juniper, and Malcolm with Mackey. ‘Cuz Thalia’s my Maid of Honor and Grover’s your best man…”
Percy put his head in his hands. “This is all so complicated. Can’t we just get married in Vegas? By ourselves?”
“Athena would kill me.”
He groaned. “Fine. Let’s jump on a plane to Athens. Let’s get married in Athens. Or Rome. Or—”
“This is really stressing you out, huh?”
He nodded. “Screw it, Annabeth. All of it. Let’s get married the way we want to, not the way society dictates we must. Let’s elope.” When he noticed her hesitance he grinned. “Let’s go to Athens. You always wanted to go there. Let’s just…run away.”
“But—”
“And then when we get back, we’ll deal with the consequences. Come on, Annabeth. We’re young. We’re foolish. Let’s do something utterly stupid!”
“But—”
He sealed his lips over hers. After a moment of shock she began to kiss him back. She finally pushed him away.
“Sometimes you get really good ideas. For having a head full of kelp and all.”
You Belong With Me
Percy unlocked the door to their apartment, only to hear the song playing quietly. He dropped his bag and wandered quietly into the living room only to witness his love in his shirt and her PJ shorts, singing into a hairbrush and dancing around on the carpet. Percy crossed his arms over his chest, watching the hilarious scene.
The song ended and Annabeth collapsed in a fit of giggles on the couch, causing her head to fall backward so she saw Percy staring at her. She sat up straight and brushed a loose lock of hair behind her ear.
“How long have you been there?”
“Long enough to say you’re adorable.”
She blushed. “I’m gonna kill you, Seaweed Brain, if you tell anyone about this.”
“Who am I gonna tell?” he asked innocently.
She glared. “I’m watching you.”
“Just out of curiosity, what’s that song called?”
“You Belong With Me.”
He smiled and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, but what’s the song called?” he said cheekily.
She smacked him. And then, when he pouted, she kissed him.
“I can’t stay mad when you say something so stupid and sweet at the same time.”
“But mostly sweet, right?”
There was a pause.
“Right, Annabeth?”
“Uh huh. Sure.”
Heart-Broken
Annabeth went through the drawers that had been given out to him and gathered all the clothes, balling them up and tossing them off the fire escape, into the rain. She did this for ten minutes before going back for the CDs he’d made her, breaking them in half and tossing them off, as well. Afterwards she still didn’t feel any better. So she went into her closet and took out the camp T-shirt he’d given her when he went away—something to make sure she remembered him. The first night he deployed, the first night without him, she’d worn the shirt to bed, cried herself to sleep, and prayed that Poseidon would take care of him on that wretched submarine that had stolen Percy from her. Now she tossed it out along with the other clothes.
She fell to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
She’d seen him hugging that…thing. The thing with pretty brown hair that fell to her waist. The thing that had been at sea with Percy for 9 months. The thing that Percy had chosen over her. More tears fell.
She heard a door open.
“Annabeth?”
She didn’t move.
“Why is all my stuff downstairs? In the rain?”
She stood shakily and spun around…and froze. Percy still had his long, unruly hair. It was shorter than the last time she saw him, but, sure enough, it wasn’t the buzz cut of the man she had seen kissing and hugging the brunette.
“Oh, I’m so stupid,” she whispered, running forward to throw herself in Percy’s arms. He dropped his bag and lifted her off the ground, spinning her around. “I love you, Percy.”
“I love you, too. I missed you so much.”
“I missed you more, worrying that you were gonna die out there.”
He set her down and stared into her stormy grey eyes. “I could never die.” She opened her mouth to argue and he rolled his eyes and pressed a hand over her mouth. “Shut up; I’m trying to be romantic. Where was I? Right—I could never die. That would mean leaving you.”
March 30th
Percy hummed to the slow music as he danced with his wife in their kitchen. She giggled, knowing Percy was simply being foolish. When the song ended, he stepped back and grabbed her hand to kiss her knuckles.
He froze. “Why is my name on your hand?”
She snatched her hand back. “It’s March 30th.”
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s Write the Name of the Person You Love On Your Hand Day.”
“That’s a long holiday name.” But he made no further comment and went to the living room to grab a pen. She followed, watching him. When he held out his hand it said in big, bold, messy letters: “Property of Annabeth Chase.”
She threw her arms around his neck. “Anybody ever tell you you’re a hopeless romantic?”
He kissed her once, twice, softly. “No—why?”
“Good. I knew this was all for me.”