Woodside Academy (Percabeth AU)

Chapter 44 - First Night Back

     Annabeth's POV

January 5

     Surprisingly, I was bored by todays lessons. Usually I was eager to learn and do something with my time, but my mind was too distracted.

     Most of my day had been spent with shy yet sweet shared glances between Percy and I. Anytime my eyes wandered to him, his eyes were already on me. His lips were constantly turned up into a faint smile, the kind that seemed so blissfully giddy and accidental.

     When we bumped into each other leaving from English, we both walked out with quiet smiles as we avoided eye contact. It was so unnecessary, yet somehow starting school had taken our ability to function normally around each other. But every time our eyes met, I could swear I knew exactly what he was thinking behind those pretty green eyes.

     After dinner we walked out together, our hands brushing against each other as we followed behind our friends.

     "Annabeth," Percy suddenly said beside me. His voice was quiet as he asked, "tonight could you meet me on the clock tower?"

     I looked up at him, and in the faint glow of the evening sky, I saw the blush on his cheeks. "Of course," I told him, wondering what he needed.

     "Great," he said, a grin creeping onto his face but he suppressed it and looked away.

     A cold rush of wind blew my hair back, and my exposed fingers itched for warmth. Before I could put my hand into my pocket, Percy took my hand and drifted closer to me.

We got to the dorm and separated into the bedrooms. After about two hours full of getting ready for bed and laying awake in bed, I thought now was the right time to try to sneak out.

I carefully swung my legs over the edge and stood up, standing still for a short moment to see if anybody had caught me. Nobody did, so I took a small step towards the door, then another and another until I was curling my fingers around the door handle.

     I slowly opened the door, trying not to make a sound. Luckily no light was on in the common room, so the bedroom stayed pitch black even as I opened the door enough for me to slip out.

     One I was out of the room and out of the common room, I ran down the stairs and outside.

     It was cold outside, but I had a jacket on to protect myself from the winter chill.

     I made it to the clock tower and began climbing up towards the top, and as I got closer I heard small sounds that proved Percy was already up there waiting for me.

     When I got to the top, I saw Percy sitting there with his back turned towards me. He was leaned against a beam of wood next to him, and he swung his foot back and forth in the air below him. He didn't seem to hear me, the night was quiet. The only sound was his humming, he was humming Question. I stood there for a moment listening to him before I decided I should probably let him know I was there.

     I stepped towards him, allowing my foot to fall loud enough on the wood to alert him I was there. Percy turned to look at me and smiled, his eyes following me as I sat down beside him.

     "Hey," he said, turning sideways to look at me and leaning his back against the wooden beam.

     "Hi," I replied, looking at the woods behind the tower. "What's up?"

     Percy crossed his legs and shrugged. "I dunno, just wanted to...talk to you."

     That statement didn't sound good to me, and I eyed him warily as I turned to face him in a way that I hoped was casually. "Alright, about what?"