Chapter 46 - Rule Number Four (AU) (Part II)
published: Monday, 16 December 2019
"H-Hey," Annabeth panted as she jogged up to Percy, who was standing outside the arena and staring down at his phone.
Percy's face brightened the moment he recognised her. "You came!" he laughed. "After all that, my mum broke you."
She was wearing leggings and a blue t-shirt, along with a large scarf that hid most of her chin.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Sh-shut up," she said through shaky limbs. "I can't feel my feet," she told him. "I should've worn boots."
"It's not even snowing, you weakling," Percy snorted. He eyed the sleeve of his hoodie sticking out of her rucksack. "Why don't you just wear my hoodie?"
He instantly regretted it when Annabeth's eyes widened in alarm.
"Not like that," he reassured her with a nervous laugh. "I mean, it's cold. It's just so you don't get sick."
Annabeth nodded slowly. "Yeah, of-of course."
Percy pulled it out of her bag and handed it to her. She'd brought it over to his house on Wednesday, but they'd been a little too...preoccupied to organise themselves.
"Good luck out there," her voice came out muffled as she pulled on his hoodie.
"Yeah, it'll be that much better knowing you're in the stands," Percy said sarcastically.
"Pretend I'm behind you and you'll swim faster," Annabeth fired back.
Two months ago and Percy would've taken that as a spiteful insult. Now that they were technically friends, they often poked fun at the other, just for old times' sake.
Annabeth was fun to be around, and they clicked incredibly well. Percy didn't mind being himself around her, and usually found them sitting in a comfortable silence.
He watched as Annabeth disappeared behind the doors of the arena and exhaled deeply.
"Shit," Percy muttered under his breath.
Rule Four: No feelings.
"Not a problem," he'd said.
God, he'd been such an idiot.
Percy shook the image of Annabeth out of his head as he slid back into the changing rooms.
"Hey, Jackson," the coach barked. "Don't get distracted with your girlfriend out there."
Percy blushed as another guy on his team, Beckendorf, clapped him on the back with a laugh.
"I don't have a girlfriend."
"Sure you do," Beckendorf chuckled. "The blonde in your hoodie? Sitting with your friends?"
Percy felt his stomach do a flip. "My what?" he choked out.
Beckendorf slapped a hand to his head. "Oh god, sorry. It was supposed to be a surprise. Hazel and Frank dropped by today; said they wanted it to be a surprise. They brought another girl — red headed, I think."
Percy raced to the changing rooms' exit, where he almost passed out upon seeing exactly what Beckendorf had described.
His mum was in the stands beside Annabeth, and Hazel and Frank were right next to her. To make matters worse, Rachel Dare was here too.
Percy muttered a curse under his breath. Rachel was one of his exes and fairly nice, but she was also best friends with Silena, who was the chattiest person Percy had ever met.
If Rachel had seen Annabeth wearing his hoodie, there was a very slim chance that the whole school didn't think he and Annabeth were dating.
"Don't get distracted, right?" Beckendorf said uncertainty, noticing Percy's palour.
"Yep," Percy murmured. He shakily walked out of the changing rooms to a roar of cheers from the other swimmers in his club behind him.
His own small team of supporters joined in the applause, but Percy saw Annabeth's ashen expression and he instantly knew that the worse had happened.
He wasn't able to concentrate for the rest of the meet, and it was just by a hair's breadth that he made it into the next round.
"Jackson! What was that down there?" Coach Hedge yelled. "Your form was off! Your strokes were like the angles of a collapsed monument!"
"I'm sorry," Percy hurried. "Coach, can we do this later, please?" Annabeth had rushed past his friends and was practically racing to leave the arena. "I swear, I'll be right back," he pleaded as he followed after her.
Percy burst through the glass doors and scanned the landscape for her. "Annabeth!" he called frantically when he spotted the familiar head of brown hair. "Annabeth, wait!"
He came to a stop when she turned around to face him.
"Hazel and Frank and Rachel?" Annabeth demanded. "Oh my god, Percy, do you know what this means?"
Percy chewed on his lower lip worriedly.
It meant that the first rule was scrapped; no telling anybody.
"We'll make up something," he insisted. "Hazel and Frank won't say anything if I ask them to."
"What about Rachel?" Annabeth covered her face with a sigh. "Percy, it's too late to contain it. It happened, let's move past it."
Percy hesitated. "Do...do you want to stop this?" He gestured between them. "Us?"
It pained him horribly to say that, but it was the obvious solution at this point. Say no, Percy begged silently. Say you'll stay.
"I don't," Annabeth said quietly.
Percy swallowed. "Then we'll figure the rest out."
<<< >>>
Annabeth pushed open the door to homeroom and averted her gaze to the floor.
People she'd helped with assignments, greeted in the mornings, and even made jokes with lapsed into whispers upon her arrival.
"Hey, what are you staring at?" someone said sharply.
Annabeth wanted to thank the angel that introduced her to Piper McLean, who whisked her away from ogling stares.
"This can't get any worse," Annabeth whispered miserably as she buried her face in her hands. Piper, Jason and Leo sat by the surrounding desks, all witnessing her despair in silence.
The classroom door creaked again as someone else walked in.
"Heads up," Leo murmured. "It just got worse."
Annabeth risked a peek, only to see that Percy had entered the classroom and had awkwardly taken his usual seat beside Hazel and Frank, far, far away from her.
"What exactly happened?" Piper whispered. "All we heard this morning is that you and Percy are dating?"
"You two can't even be in the same room together without fighting," Jason reminded her. "How did this happen?"
"We're not dating," Annabeth explained slowly. "We're not anything!" she whisper-shouted. "It's—" She shook her head. "It's complicated. I was helping him with some work, and his mum just insisted that I should go to his swim meet."
Lying was worth it if she and Percy didn't end whatever they were doing.
"You were helping him with work?" Leo said in disbelief. "But you're competing for the Principal's Prize!"
Annabeth hesitated. "Yeah, well, I think he needs it more than I do."
Over time, Annabeth, even with her ambition, was starting to realise how hard Percy had to work just to be taken seriously. His swimming was his forte, but he also had to overcome so much just to attain a good report card. Then he had the financial instability in his family, and the fact that, without the Principal's Prize, his chances for a scholarship would be that much lower.
For Annabeth, she had a much better chance even without it.
"I'm not giving up," she assured them. "I'm just...rethinking things."
"Let's go," Piper said suddenly.
Annabeth glanced up to see Drew glaring at her from across the room. She tilted her head down feverishly as she and her friends exited the classroom without a second glance at Percy's old hook-up.
This was so much worse than last year's rumours, mostly because they had actually been seen together. "Slut" and "bitch" were words that often followed her around the whole day.
"Don't listen to them," Piper told her as they sat down for lunch in the cafeteria. "They're just jealous because Percy's in love with you."
Annabeth flushed. "He's not."
Piper pulled a face. "Come on, Annabeth. It's so obvious. One look and even someone as clueless as Leo can tell."
Leo mimed an offended look.
"Apparently, he hasn't slept or gone out with anyone in three weeks," Piper told her. "Him liking someone else is the only reason
Annabeth shook her head. "No, you don't get it," she sighed. "He can't."
It was against rule number four; no feelings.
The most important one. When they'd started this, Annabeth would never in a million years have thought that she'd find Percy Jackson to be a decent human being, much less have feelings for him.
But she liked spending time with him, and it was scary to think how fragile their friendship was. One word from either of them and it was all over.
Another screech as a food tray slid onto the table.
Annabeth froze as a familiar pair of green eyes met hers.
"Percy?" she demanded. "What are you doing?"
Percy was sitting with her. With them. In school.
"Do you mind if we sit here?" Percy asked, gesturing to Hazel and Frank, who seemed to be equally as astonished as the others.
"No, no, go ahead," Piper managed.
"Annabeth, everyone already knows," Percy sighed. "There isn't any point in not being friends, is there?"
"People talk," Annabeth groaned. "God, you don't get it. It's different for us. And it's a dumb double standard, but things like this that are positive for you are blows to my reputation. Teachers and students judge me every minute of the day, and it's exhausting, Percy."
Their gazes met for a few moments as neither backed down.
Then Percy climbed onto his seat, clearing his throat loudly as he called for everyone's attention.
"For the record, no, Annabeth and I aren't dating," Percy said with a glare as he eyed the now silent cafeteria. "Nothing happened at the swim meet, and frankly, it's none of your business. Anyone bothering her answers to me, so you can all move on with you lives."
When he climbed back down, the cafeteria had resumed their conversations again, and Annabeth's mouth hung open.
"How can you just not care?" she said at last.
Percy shrugged. "I have better things to do."
Jason cleared his throat to get their attention. "Hey, so my parents are out this Friday night, do you guys want to come over? I mean, we can have a movie night, order in pizza, play video games."
"Board games," Hazel corrected rapidly. She blushed. "Sorry, sorry. I'm just a big fan of board games."
Jason chuckled. "Yeah, sure. I have Monopoly."
"I'll bring the rest," Hazel promised.
Annabeth felt the corner of her mouth quirk up as she watched her friends bond with Percy's. Over that lunchtime, the seven teenagers realised how much they'd missed out by simply being acquaintances.
Hazel was the sweetest, kindest person Annabeth had ever met, and Frank was a bumbling mess, but he was also really funny in a naive way.
Annabeth was disappointed to hear the bell ring when it did, especially because she had History on the other side of the school. That meant walking all the way there alone.
"Come on," Percy said, beckoning her to follow him. "I'll walk you to class."
Annabeth gave him a weak smile as she obliged, jogging a little to get in step with him.
"So," Percy paused. "I guess we can scrap all the other rules."
Annabeth snorted. "Yep." She stared straight ahead. "But, we still have rule number four, right?"
She could've sworn that something in Percy's eyes disappeared when he nodded stiffly. "Yeah," he sighed. "Um, no feelings."
Something inside Annabeth panged when he said that. "Great," she said blandly. Annabeth plastered a false smile on her face.
As Percy walked away, Annabeth was horrified at herself.
There was no other explanation; she'd caught feelings for Percy Jackson.
How do you tell someone you're sleeping with that you can't anymore because you're starting to have real feelings?
<<< >>>
On Friday, after school, Percy drove Annabeth from his house to Jason's.
They'd spent the entire afternoon messing around, but never actually having sex, mostly because neither of them were really in the mood today.
"I think you still have floor in your hair," Percy chuckled. He peeled a hand off the steering wheel and tucked a strand of Annabeth's hair behind her ear.
Annabeth felt the nervous butterflies in her gut flutter into a frenzy. She bit her lip and prayed that the blush wasn't evident on her face.
"Sorry," Percy said embarrassedly once he realised what he'd done.
"It's fine," Annabeth rushed, looking out the window. They were pulling up outside Jason's house, an average-sized suburban cottage. His older sister had gone off to college last year, and his parents often worked, so Jason was usually home alone.
When they walked in, Annabeth felt Piper shoot her a curious look, which she silenced instantly.
"What are you guys doing?" Percy asked incredulously when he spotted Frank, Jason and Leo stuck in a tangled mess of limbs.
Leo angles his head up and gave them a goofy grin. "Twister!"
Annabeth snickered. "Well, prepare to lose because I'm a boss at Twister."
Of course, she did win in the end. Annabeth used to dance when she was a kid, so she was still pretty flexible.
In the middle of Never Have I Ever, Percy's phone blared it's ringtone to the room. Annabeth saw his eyebrows furrow as he read the contact.
"Who is it?" Hazel called from the kitchen.
Percy scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Um." He glanced at Annabeth momentarily. "It's Rachel," he admitted.
Annabeth felt her heart clench. Rachel Dare, Percy's ex-girlfriend who'd also shown up to his swim meet.
"Hey, Rach," Percy said quietly into his phone. "Yeah, no it's fine." He paused. "A date?"
This time he did look at Annabeth with uncertainty.
She felt anger flare up inside her. "I don't care, Percy," Annabeth lied through her teeth. "Date whoever you want," she mumbled as she struggled to her feet and padded into the kitchen.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm free tomorrow," Percy's voice could still be heard. "Okay, see you then."
When the phone call ended, Annabeth wanted to curl up into a foetal position and feel sorry for herself. How had she gotten into this situation?
She'd told herself so many times that catching feelings for Percy Jackson was impossible. Turns out, it wasn't.
"You okay?" Hazel asked with concern, looking down at Annabeth, who was sitting on the floor with her back to the counter.
"No, I fucked up," Annabeth murmured.
The other girl sat down opposite her. "What happened?"
"Rachel's asking Percy on a date," Annabeth said despairingly. "And I can't do anything about it because I don't own him. And I don't have any right to. But it sucks." She picked at the hem of her t-shirt.
"Why can't you just tell him that you like him?" Hazel asked. She gave her a pointed look. "We all know that you two have feelings for each other. Why don't you act on it?"
Annabeth swallowed. "Because it's rule number four."
And everything just came spilling out. This was a girl who Annabeth had just met, but she was genuine, and real, and nicer than most of the other people in her life. So she told Hazel everything from the deal she and Percy had made, to now, where she'd found herself head over heels for a boy who only saw her as a method of release.
"That is a situation," Hazel said at last when she finished. "But I still don't see the issue; you both like each other."
"He doesn't," Annabeth laughed humourlessly. "God, he just agreed to go out with Rachel again. If that isn't a clear sign then I don't know what is."
Hazel hesitated. "I've known him a long time, and Percy has never been as cheerful than when he's around you. He hasn't even mentioned a girl in the last month, and every time he looks at you, he smiles unconsciously. Frank and I already suspected something before you showed up to the swim meet."
"But Percy isn't that time of guy," Hazel sighed. "He can't just have sex with a girl if he doesn't have any feelings for her. Deep down, even before all this, even with all your fighting, Percy did like you. And he's just being his usual stupid self when it comes to feelings, and he's drowning in denial." Hazel fiddled with her hands.
Annabeth opened her eyes. "I have to end it, don't I?" she said softly, exhaling through her mouth.
Hazel winced. "Yeah, I think you do."
The car ride home was a long one, and Annabeth couldn't bring herself to talk to Percy. He was unusually quiet as well, so they just in silence, unspoken words hanging over them.
Percy pulled up in front of her house and walked her to the door.
"Percy," Annabeth said as she ran a hand through her hair. "We can't—" Pain swelled up in her chest. "We can't do this anymore."
His crestfallen expression almost made Annabeth take it all back.
Almost.
"This, like..." Percy gestured between them. "Us?"
"It's too painful," the words tumbled out of her mouth. "Being with you like this, and then seeing you with another girl."
"What?" Percy demanded. "That doesn't make any sense."
"I know, because we had a rule; no feelings," Annabeth said shakily. "Well, I broke it, okay? I-I didn't think I would, but I have, and I can't do anything about it except stay away from you."
As she made to open the door, Percy grabbed her by the arm. "You have feelings for me?" he said quietly.
Annabeth heart almost stopped.
She swallowed. "Yeah." Annabeth buried her face in her hands as her eyes welled up. "Fuck. Yes, god, of course, I do! With your, your dumb charm," her voice wavered tearily. "And your-your stupid smile—"
Percy swept her into his arms as their lips met in a passionate kiss. They moved against each other like two pieces of a jigsaw fitting together; perfectly.
"No, you can't do this to me," Annabeth gasped as she pulled away. "Lead me on, and then break my heart."
"I love you," Percy told her.
Annabeth reached for words — any words. All she did was stare speechlessly at him.
"I don't want to go out with Rachel," Percy said with sigh. "I just said I would because I thought you'd end this if you found out I had feelings for you!"
Annabeth closed her eyes as a teary laugh escaped her lips.
"Screw rule number four," Percy muttered.
Annabeth kissed him again, and this time, they didn't part.
Her parents were at a dinner, and her brothers were at a sleepover.
They walked slowly through the house, Percy eventually carrying her to her bedroom.
There wasn't any rush this time. They had all the time in the world.
As Percy sat her down on the blanket, Annabeth whispered, "Percy."
He looked up at her through his eyelashes, his breathtaking eyes silencing her for a second.
"I love you too," Annabeth whispered.
Percy grinned in the most adorable manner and swept the duvet covers over them both.