Annabeth's POV
"So. This is the ultimate test." I said dramatically. Percy was driving us to our two month anniversary date. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, just that it was a picnic.
"What do you mean?" Percy looked a bit nervous.
I laughed at his uneasiness. "Oh you'll see." I smirked at him. He simply smiled and kept his eyes on the road, driving ahead.
***
Percy pulled into a small parking lot near a trail surrounded by woods. "Here we are." He unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. He quickly ran to my side of the car to open the door for me.
He held out his hand. "M'lady." He grinned at me.
"Thank you sir." I said. We laughed together. Percy reached in the back seat and pulled out the basket.
"Percy, were not walking are we? I am not wearing the right clothes for that." I was wearing a grey sleeveless turtleneck dress, with a jean jacket and brown combat boots. I know what you're thinking; it's way too cold to wear that in January! But the weather has been freakishly warm lately. This winter it's barely snowed. Today, it had been sixty degrees. My jean jacket was thick so I was warm enough. My hair was curly from braids I had in earlier, and two little braids trailed around my head, connecting in the back.
Percy had been wearing khaki pants, a blue and grey plaid dress shirt untucked, and a little grey bow tie. He even tried to come his hair with gel. It was cute. Over that, he wore a light north face jacket. "It's only a little bit of walking, don't worry." He reassured.
"Ok. If you say so." I grabbed his hand and he led me down the path.
The walk was about five minutes long. When we reached a certain point in the path, he stopped and looked in the direction of a very close clump of trees. He began to walk through the forest, careful to move any tree branches out of my way, or grab my hand to help me over a log. He's such a gentleman. Sally raised him right.
After about seven minutes of weaving in and out of trees and branches, we reached the clump of trees. In the middle of them all stood a tree house. It was big, and was split into two rooms. One room was in a tree to the right and the other in a tree to the left. There was a small bridge between the two, and a rope ladder leading up to the right room.
Fairy lights and the occasional lantern strung all through the trees and along the houses. It was beautiful.
"Percy..." I began. "This is beautiful." I breathed.
Percy beamed at me. "Thanks. Follow me." He began walking to the rope ladder. I followed. He gestured for me to go first. I began to climb, grabbing each rung tightly, afraid to fall. Percy waited at the bottom, ready to catch me. I was glad that I wore spandex shorts under my dress. I didn't need Percy staring at my butt, though he's too much of a gentleman to do that. When I was up safely, he began to climb after me. I stood up inside the little room.
More fairy lights strung across the walls, making the room dim. It was romantic and... perfect. There was a deck at the back of the room, where I could see that the sun was just beginning to set. We had a perfect view from the tall tree tops. I followed the sight until the forest ended and the city began. I could see all the lights of the hustling bustling city.
The sun shown brightly on my face. I squinted my eyes before blocking the suns rays with a hand.
It was surprisingly warmer in the tree house.
Percy came up and joined me a few seconds later. "Here we are." He smiled at me.
"This is beautiful, Percy." I said, taking it all in.
"Yeah. This room was my dad's." I looked at him, confused. "Oh. When my dad was a little kid, he built this tree house." He explained while putting down the blanket. "Then, when I was little, I would come back to this spot to hang out. My mom and I built the room over there." He pointed across the bridge to the other room.
"Aw. That's so sweet."
Percy blushed as he sat down. "Thanks." I sat down next to him and we began eating. I had packed plenty of food. Snacks, sandwiches, chips, drinks, and dessert. I enjoyed my peanut butter and jelly before asking Percy some questions.
"Alright. How did our first kiss play out?"
"We were in your kitchen making blue pancakes, after the whole Gabe fiasco, and we started a blue pancake batter war, which I totally won—"
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Anyways..." I motioned for him to go on.
"Then, we kissed after that was over. And I thought it was awesome."
"I thought it was perfect." I kissed his cheek and smiled. "Okay. Next question. What is my favorite color?"
"Grey, obviously."
"What dog do I want to get when I'm older?"
"Golden retriever."
"What food can I not live without?"
"You love cereal and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." I looked at him, trying to say go on. "Oh! You also like a lot of different fruit. Your favorite is pineapple though."
"Good." I smiled.
"What is my favorite physical feature about you?"
"My gorgeous sea green eyes." Percy wiggles his eyebrows. I laughed. His eyes really did look beautiful. Especially with the setting sun's rays shining through them. They looked bright and happy, which made me happy.
"How many kids do I want?"
"Two to three."
"What is my ideal career?"
Percy scoffed. "Architecture, of course."
"What was my first stuffed animal?"
"Fluffy the penguin at age five." He said matter-of-factly.
"When is my birthday?"
"Easy. July 12."
"What role did I play in our third grade spring play?"
"You were..." Percy thought for a minute. "Mrs. Potts in Be Our Guest?"
"Nope!" I said triumphantly. "I was a napkin." I smiled smugly.
"Aw come on! That was a hard one." He insisted.
I sighed. "Yes it was, and I'll give it to you—you did well. But you still got it wrong."
"Fine. Alright. My turn to ask questions." Percy smiled mischievously. "I'll start you off easy. When's my birthday?"
"August 18." I didn't even have to think about it.
"What is my favorite color?"
"Blue."
"Second favorite?"
"Green."
Percy looked impressed. "Alright, Alright." I smiled smugly. "What did I want to be when I was younger?"
"Aqua man." I laughed.
"Correct." Percy laughed with me.
"How old was I when I lost my two front teeth when I was coming down stairs, and kneed myself in the face?"
"Eight."
Percy squinted at me. "You know too much."
I laughed. "What can I say? I'm just better than you."
Percy scoffed. "Sure." We laughed together.
"Wow. I think we've really improved since our first date." I said. Our first date. God, I remember it like it was yesterday.
Flashback
I took one last look in the mirror. I straightened out my white sundress. I pulled my jean jacket forward a bit and adjusted my grey scarf. I pulled my curled hair into half up half down and secured the 'up' with a clip. I tugged on my timberlands and took one last look in the mirror. I saw my owl earrings, ones from my mother that I kept forever, my small grey clutch in my hand. I nodded, satisfied, and headed to the front door.
I walked out to find Percy waiting at the passenger seat door. He greeted me with a winning smile as I walked towards him. "I must say, you look quite beautiful tonight m'lady." He bowed and took my hand, gently kissing it.
I giggled. He always called me 'm'lady' whenever he opened the door for me.
"And you look quite handsome as well, kind sir." I said before getting in the car. We laughed before Percy closed my door.
The drive was quite short, only to Central Park. We got out and he led me through some foliage before we finally reached our destination. A small pond, hidden from the rest of the passers by by flowers, bushes, branches.
"Percy..." I began. It was absolutely gorgeous. The sunset reflecting on the lake, the light buzz of crickets far away. There were some lights strung across tree branches. It was one of the prettiest things I had ever seen.
And it was probably the best date I had ever been on.
End of Flashback
"I believe we have." Percy said as he bit into his sandwich. "Hey Wise Girl?"
"Yeah?"
"Um..." he put his sandwich down on a napkin. "I was wondering, about the other day. What did Drew mean by 'the summer of eight grade'?"
I was about to take a bite of my sandwich but I stopped abruptly. I just stared at him, frozen. Oh no. I was going to have to tell him. I mean, he'd find out eventually. And he just looked so concerned. His eyes seemed to pleading please Annabeth. I'm here for you. And I wanted to tell him I know.
He noticed that I was hesitant. "Or, if you don't want to tell me that's fine, too. But I'm just kinda—"
"Seaweed Brain." I cut off his rushes words. "It's fine. I need to tell you this anyways." I took a deep breathe.
I was about to tell Percy one of the biggest secrets that I keep.
Author's note
GUYS. WE WENT UP 1k READS IN A FEW HOURS. WE WENT FROM 4K TO 5k. YOU ARE INSANE. AND WE HIT 6k TODAY!!!! THATS CRAZY!!!! anyways, thank you so so so so so so so so much. All of your comments mean the world to me and they brighten my day. Your votes and reads are deeply appreciated. Thank you. Anyways, I recently got into 5sos and my fav song is young blood. Would recommend. Also, I had my dance recital and I didn't mess up at all!! Yay me!! Anyways, sorry this took so long to get out. But I'm gonna sleep now (jk I'll probs be up till like 2am reading fanfics it's a Friday btw so thank all the gods.) it's like 12 @ night. But, love you guys, thanks!!!
-bella💕