Annabeth

"Blue or red dress?" I ask Thalia.

"For crying out loud Annabeth, we've looked through all of your dresses, and they all look good on you!" she says with a chuckle.

I flop down onto my bed, feeling defeated. "I just want to look good."

She looks to the dresses again and thinks to herself. "Blue" she finally says.

I grin in reply, grab the blue dress, and run to the bathroom to put it on.

An hour later I hear the door bell ring, signaling Percy's arrival. My heart does a little tap dance when I hear his voice downstairs talking to my father.

"Oh great, dad is probably giving him the interview of a lifetime," I chuckle to Thalia. "Should I go save him?"

"Eh, let him suffer a little longer. It'll make him appreciate you coming down even more."

Percy

After what seemed like an hour of answering question after question from Doctor Chase, and sweating bullets, I hear the sound of someone walking down the stairs. I turn around to see who it was.

I am pretty sure my jaw hits the floor when I see her. She is a gray eyed, blond haired goddess walking down the stairs. She is wearing a blue dress that brings out her eyes like never before.

"uh... um... wo- wow!" I stammer, "you, uh, look amazing."

She blushes and giggles, looking down at her feet. "Thank you Percy, you look very nice as well."

I turn to her father, "Doctor Chase, I promise to have her back before nine tonight"

"Don't even worry about it son, take your time," he replies with a smile, "just not too late," he adds.

"Of course, you got it sir," as we head out the door.

Annabeth

Thalia was right, of course she was right. When I came down the stairs, the look on Percy's face, he looked at me like a young kid who had been given the newest and greatest toy, like he couldn't imagine his luck.

He looks extremely handsome as well. He has some older dress pants, nice but probably his dad's. He also has a dress shirt and a poorly tied tie, all finished with a sport coat.

"Did you know that my favorite color is blue?" he inquires to me, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Specifically the dark blue, like your dress" he chuckles his throaty chuckle.

"I had no idea, but I'm glad I chose this one."

He chuckles again, I love his laugh, it makes my heart skip a little bit.

Then I feel it, the almost electric current I feel whenever he touches me. His hand gently takes a hold of mine. The roughness of his hands tell me he has worked with them a lot. At the same time, his touch is gentle, almost like he is worried he is going to break me.

After walking a few blocks, we arrive at an Italian restaurant. He runs up to the door to hold it open for me, "What a gentleman," I say, then I smile because he blushed.

We sit down and order our drinks and food and we start talking.

"So what is our plan for tonight Mr. Jackson?" I question.

"First we eat dinner here, then catch a movie. After that I figured we would walk around and get to know each other."

"What movie?"

"Not exactly sure, I thought we would be spontaneous and pick the next available show."

"Sounds fun."

He gives me that trouble-maker smile, and I feel like a jar full of butterflies is being released in my stomach.

"So why architecture?" he asks me, genuinely curious. Interesting, most guys don't care enough to ask.

"Well, my parents split when I was young, my mom left to go 'find herself' and so I think I just want to build something permanent. Something that can last long after I'm gone."

"I get that. My dad died when I was really little. He was a captain in the Navy. He joined when my mom found out she was pregnant and he figured it was a good way to provide for us. But there was an accident and he fell into the water unconscious." He stopped, then wiped a tear from his eye. "I'm sorry that I'm sharing like this, it's putting a damper on the evening."

I reach out and grab his hand tight. "Hey, don't be sorry. I told you about my mom. I'm just glad you trusted me enough to share." I try to give the nicest, warmest smile I can. I want to convey how much I appreciate his sharing.

Luke never shared anything. He just wanted to show me off and use me to do his homework. I could never tell him anything because I knew he would just blab it to everyone, he never kept a secret.

"Hey, you alright?" His question snaps me back to reality.

"Yeah, just realizing how different you are from other guys"

"Is that good, or...?"

"Oh! No!" I chuckle at his bulging eyes, "It's wonderful! I feel like I'm actually getting to know you."

"Okay, good" he lets out a breath, a sigh of relief.

When our food arrives, the talking dies down a bit. But Percy made sure to make me laugh the whole time.

He challenges me to a breadstick duel first, then he purposely puts sauce on his face. When I start giggling he asks, "What? Do I have something on my face?" and when he points to it, touching the spot, he purposely smears it around. Which makes me laugh even harder.

He reminds me of a young boy who keeps playing with his food. It only confirms my theory that he is a kid at heart and refuses to grow up.

I like that about him, it makes him so much more fun.

We eat the rest of our food and Percy asks for the check. Once the tab is settled, we head toward the movie theatre, hand in hand.

When we arrive at the theatre, Percy buys our tickets and popcorn. We find our seats towards the back and settle in. I snuggle close to Percy, and feel his arm go around my shoulders. I push into his warmth, feeling safe and cozy.

When the lights dim, everyone quiets down and the news reel begins. It starts off talking about how things are here in the states, all the jobs FDR is making, how the economy is improving. Good, I'm glad things are getting better, I think.

The next news reel is about the debacle in Europe. The thought of war both excites and terrifies me.

It's exciting because it is the ultimate test of strategy, which I love. But it is terrifying because if you lose at the game, you pay the ultimate price.

"I hate the fighting that's going on," Percy whispers to me. "I don't like hurting anything, and I hate people hurting each other."

"There isn't anything wrong with that. I think that makes you a better person for saying that, I'd be freaked out if you enjoyed fighting."

Luke always had to fight, with everyone, like he had to prove something. "I like the fact that you're gentle, it's nice" I say with a smile.

"I'm glad you enjoy it," he says with that trouble maker smile.

Kiss him, you idiot! No! He should ki-

My thoughts are immediately cut off by the feeling of his lips on my cheek. I feel my brain come to a screeching halt, and I turn to look at the culprit beside me. I can practically feel the heat radiating from his face. His face is a mixture of embarrassment, happiness and worry.

To calm him down, I grin and say "You missed," The confusion on his face is adorable.

"What?"

"You missed your target," and I pull myself up and press my lips against his. It was just a small kiss, but from the split second our lips touched, I feel the electric current again. I don't want to pull away, I have to force myself to remove my lips.

The look on his face is one of both delight and confusion. "Uh, th-thanks," clearing his throat after his voice broke. He shakes his head trying to snap his thoughts back in order.

Giggling to myself, I cuddle myself back into his warmth. Although this time, a little closer, and I felt him squeeze me a little tighter, and my smile grew.

"We missed the beginning of the movie, too distracted I guess" he whispers to me with a chuckle.

"Maybe I shouldn't kiss you anymore, just stop the distraction?" I say in a teasing tone, twisting to turn and look him in the eye.

Fear is covering his face, "No! Oh God Annabeth, that isn't what I meant! I'm sorr-"

I cut his sentence off with another kiss because I can't torture him any longer. Also the look of confusion and fear on his face is too cute.

"Now watch the movie mister"

"Yes ma'am" he replies, with a dumbstruck look still on his face and turns toward the screen.

Percy

I honestly don't remember any of the movie, the entire time, my mind was racing around, thinking about Annabeth kissing me. I kept thinking about the softness of her lips, the smell of her breath.

When she brought me back to the moment by waving in my face, the movie was over and the lights were on.

"Still with me?" she asks, slightly smiling.

"Of course, I'd be crazy to leave you."


A couple hours later, we are walking around central park, still hand in hand.

"I've had fun tonight," she says. "It was a nice time."

"I'm glad," I say through a smile. "Should we head toward your place? So your dad doesn't change his mind about me?"

"I highly doubt that he would change his mind about you Percy. I can tell that he likes you."

That kind of confuses me, "How can you tell?"

"Ever since I started talking to boys and he considered the possibility of me dating, he always told the boys that I had to be home before dark, he gave you no such restriction."

"Well I will have to try and keep in his good graces, but since we don't have to take the shortest route home, we can take the long way?" I suggest.

"Yeah, I like that idea." She pulls me in closer and loops her arm through mine, squeezing it tightly.

About thirty minutes later, we arrive in front of her house, and just like the day before, we sit on the porch, talking about the evening, what we think about everything and much more.

"Annabeth, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did" she says teasing me.

"Fine, I'll just ask it anyway" I chuckle and shook my head. "Do you believe in love at first sight?"

Annabeth

My stomach did a little flip at him bringing this up. Does he love me already? I mean, I know that I really like him, and I know that I'm really young, but could this be love?

"Look, if you don't want to answer, I get it, don't worry about it."

"I'm sorry, its not that, honestly. If you had asked me the same question a month ago I would have said no way, that there are too many things that go into loving someone. But..."

"But?" I can tell that he is anxious for what is coming next.

"But ever since yesterday, I'm not sure. Everything about the time we have spent around each other has been amazing and completely unique to anything I have experienced. Is it love? I have no idea, but could it be? I think there is a strong possibility."

"Do you always think so much?" he chuckles. "Have you just followed your gut without thinking about it?"

I blush and kinda shy away, saying "I guess not"

"I guess we could make an arrangement, I make the gut decisions, you make sure they aren't too stupid. Sound like a deal?"

"Deal"

"Should we seal it with a kiss?"

"Maybe not right in front of my house where my dad could be watching" I say smiling, "but how about a hug?"

"Works just as good as a kiss in my book"

We stand up and embrace each other in a big, tight hug and I felt like a meteor could hit and I would be safe. Right there in his Percy's arms, the only thing that matters is us.

"Good night Wise Girl"

"Wise Girl?" I question. "Where did that come from?"

"Well, you said it yourself, you always over think things. Also, you love to read, to learn and you want to be an architect, which takes a lot of wisdom. I figured you deserved a nickname."

"I guess that's fair" I conclude. "I guess I just need to come up with one for you now."

"I look forward to it" he says grinning at me.

He gives me one last hug before I head inside for the night. I turn around and look at him as I enter and close the door, both of us smiling huge smiles.

When I close the door and slid to the floor I hear someone over my shoulder.

"Looks like someone enjoyed themselves tonight"

My dad had snuck up on me from the side room. He has a smile on his face. "I'm glad you enjoyed him. I like him"

"Me too," I nod, "me too..."

Notes