When Percy's seventeenth birthday rolled around, they didn't spend it in New York. They didn't spend it anywhere in the continental US. They were in Hawaii.
They were in Hawaii because the wish that Percy had asked his father to grant in Greece, was to turn them into merpeople for a day so they could swim there - so they didn't have to fly or take a boat or anything like that - that was the power that resided in the red coral charm on her bracelet. They even stopped by Poseidon's underwater palace that was still under construction from the war last summer to properly thank him. Cressida couldn't even believe that her boyfriend had gotten his father to turn her into a mermaid for the day. She could breathe underwater, see with complete clarity and she was so fast. Her tail was indigo like her eyes and such a powerful muscle as it pushed her through the water. And not only did she get to do that flip that dolphins did when they broke the water, but she got to do that hair flip from The Little Mermaid before she kissed her merman of a boyfriend underwater like they did last summer.
They were staying there for a week while they toured the island of Oahu, paid for by Dionysus and the Olympus Express card that he'd given his daughter.
They'd be swimming back a couple days after Percy's birthday but today was actually August 18th and not only did Percy get spoiled because it was his birthday, but it was also because it was their one-year anniversary.
They'd gone for a nice swim in the morning before having breakfast at this little café on the beach. They went hiking up Diamond Head where they took a bunch of cute Polaroid pictures at the top. Then they went for another swim after that before heading back to their hotel room where Cressida gave him one of his two birthday presents. She'd gotten him walkie-talkies that Tyson made so they had unlimited range - they were like phones but because they worked on radio signals and not cellular signals, monsters were less likely to come after them.
And like the child he was, he ran to the other end of their massive hotel room just to make sure they worked.
They ordered dinner in as they watched a movie before Cressida gave him his second birthday present.
The Halloween thing that she had appropriately renamed the Birthday thing.
She'd had the word Jackson printed on the back, and where she got the outfit, he'd never know but yeah he was definitely over his paranoia of cheerleaders.
Best birthday ever!
They were tanned and happy and content when they got back to New York, the things they bought, more specifically the outfit Cressida wore for his birthday, were saved in some waterproof bags they'd gotten in Hawaii and Percy's powers so they could swim back with them.
Sally had been ready and waiting with Percy's blue birthday cake when they walked in.
But then came the dreaded day of Percy's return to school. And he was not happy about how much work Paul had presented him with to catch up on.
He was stuffing a bunch of papers and textbooks into his locker, waiting for the day to be over so he could go home and kiss his girlfriend before he whined to her about all the work he had to do if he wanted to graduate with her at the end of the year.
Going to his locker was a decent substitute to tide him over for a while though. He'd stuck a few polaroids on the door along with a blue sticker of a trident with the words cabin 3 under it. One was a polaroid of Cressida kissing his cheek at the top of Diamond Head. Another was of Percy lifting her up on a white sandy beach as they laughed. Another one was the photo he took of her blowing him a kiss on the beach at camp. And the last one was the one that Annabeth had seen stuffed in Percy's notebook years ago.
And it was that photo that had the tendency to be stolen.
"Hey! Check out the babe that Jackson has hidden in his locker!" the boy said as he ripped the picture from the door and Percy just sighed. He was definitely not in the mood for this today.
"Give it back, Todd. I don't have time for this," Percy sighed.
"Or what?" the bully laughed. Todd was notorious for making people's lives miserable. He was around Percy's height with brown hair that fell around his ears and was parted down the middle. He had dull brown eyes and always wore baggy jeans, converses and a t-shirt with some print on it and today was no different. "What are you going to do Jackson?" he taunted. "Hey, I know! How about you introduce me to her? If she's real, obviously, because there's no way in hell that you could pull a chick as hot as this one."
Percy shoved the boy away from him. "I'm not going to warn you again, Todd. Give it back."
Todd laughed. "I don't think so."
Percy's patience was wearing thin. He had promised to stay out of trouble at school but idiots like Todd made it so hard.
"Unless you'd like to lose your teeth when I punch you, give me back the photo."
"Oh, you think you're a big man, Jackson, don't you? You disappear for most of junior year and yet they still let you in as a senior. The rest of us don't get the advantage of having our mommy screwing one of the teachers!"
Percy shoved him again, anger boiling in his veins as he could feel the water in the pipes around him rush faster in response to his anger. "Don't you dare talk about my mother or my girlfriend like that!"
The taunting expression on Todd's face dissolved into an angry one, but before he could utter a retort or throw a punch like he was itching to do after Percy had shoved him twice, a new voice cut through the tension.
"Is there a problem here, boys?" came the melodious voice and instantly Percy's anger evaporated as he turned to the owner of the voice.
Paul stood with his hands tucked into his pants pockets, a disapproving look on his face, but it wasn't aimed at Percy thankfully, and next to him stood the source of the voice.
Cressida Lynn stood next to Percy's stepfather dressed in purple converses, black leggings and a loose but still fitted blue top with an ACDC album cover on it. Her hair was out and flowing down her back, a purple handbag slung onto her shoulder with a long strap that had the bag itself hitting her hip and in her hands was a pile of papers and a couple of notebooks and a textbook. Her charm bracelet jangled on her wrist and her camp necklace hung from her neck, now with ten beads instead of nine, and her indigo eyes were startling as they were fixed on the two of them.
"You're here," Percy marvelled. "I thought you weren't starting till next week? How come you're here?"
"That's one way of saying hello, Fish Face," Cressida teased as she closed the distance between them, and Percy forgot all about Todd.
"Sorry. Hi, Cress," he said as he pecked her lips.
"That's better," she said before her indigo irises fixed on Todd and she moved to stand in front of him. "Hi, Todd," she sang as he gaped at her and stared at the Polaroid in his hand.
"You...you're her. You're real?! Jackson wasn't making you up?!"
"Clearly not seeing as I'm standing right in front of you. And speaking of Percy, I believe you have something that belongs to my boyfriend?"
Her books were braced against her hip as she held out a hand, simply waiting for him to hand it over. She used no magic, no threats, no acting, she simply asked for it. And where Percy had lied about only warning Todd once, Cressida would actually only ask once before she resorted to less civil matters.
And amazingly, Todd set the photo into her hand as she inspected it, almost as if checking to see if it was damaged.
"I suggest you stay far away from me and my boyfriend if you have any interest in completing your senior year."
And Cressida turned to hand Percy the photo as Todd began to skulk away.
"Not so fast, Mr Sampson," Paul called. "I believe you have a meeting with the principal and your parents to attend as this is the third incident of yours this month."
Todd scowled at Paul before changing directions and heading for the principal's office.
"I trust Percy can finish your tour of the school and walk you to your first class?" he asked, and Percy grinned.
"You got it, Mr Blofis," he chuckled, and the older man smiled.
"Welcome to Goode High, Miss Lynn."
"Thank you, Mr Blofis," Cressida called as Paul turned and followed after Todd to the principal's office.
"That was amazing!" Percy beamed as he turned to his girlfriend and his smile was infectious. "I'm not kidding. He's been a nuisance since I started here, so that was attractive as hell. But what the hell are you doing here?"
"It was supposed to be a surprise. Paul arranged for my audits to start this week instead of next week," she began explaining. "I'm only here two days a week but my schedule conveniently matches up with yours."
"What an interesting coincidence," Percy grinned as he snaked an arm around her waist.
"I thought so. Hey, do you mind if I keep some of this stuff in your locker until the end of the day? I'm not technically a student so I don't have a locker."
"Go ahead. My combination is your birthday anyway."
"You're cute," she said as she kissed his cheek and slid her textbook and some of the papers into his locker as Percy put the Polaroid back into place.
And when he was done, he offered her his hand. "Might I have the honour of escorting Milady to algebra where I plan to ask her why the hell math needs to have letters in it?"
Cressida laughed his favourite sound, that hopeful sound that he replayed in his head over and over and over again.
"I take it that me showing up is the highlight of your day?" she asked, and he grinned, still holding out his hand as he shouldered his backpack.
"Best thing to happen all day," he confirmed with a love-sick smile.
"Well then yes, kind sir, you may escort me to algebra where I will remind you that I am not Annabeth and I have no idea why math needs letters and numbers," she agreed as she slid her fingers across his palm, fireworks erupting at her touch.
Cressida went to walk away from the lockers, but she was caged by Percy's arms as her eyes flicked up to his in surprise and her back hit the cold metal.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked with a completely innocent expression on her face as her heart started to beat a little faster.
"I think," he began with a smirk as he pushed her hair behind her ear and let his finger trail down her jaw before he tilted her chin up. "I'm going to turn us into complete high school cliché where I kiss my girlfriend against the lockers like a lovesick teenager."
"You followed me into hell, I'd say you're a lovesick teenager."
"And you fell first, so that makes you equally as lovesick."
"Just shut up and kiss me."
"If you insist."
And Percy put every ounce of love that he could into that kiss because she was right. He was the most whipped, puppy-dog, lovesick teenager in history, but only for her. It was only ever going to be, and it will only ever be all for her.