Y/N comes over the next day, as promised, thankfully after Percy's dragged himself out of bed and managed to look somewhat presentable. She doesn't seem to mind much, if the sweet kiss she gives him when he opens the door is anything to go by. She follows that up with a bashful smile, pats his chest, and walks right past him. He shuts the door.
He can hear her chatting amicably in the kitchen with his mother, preparing a cake for the woman next door who has a birthday coming up soon. Percy doesn't throw the word 'saint' around, but if anyone comes close, it's his mom.
They lounge around the kitchen while his mom puts on the finishing touches, icing with practiced ease and raising the butterknife threateningly at Percy when he looms over her shoulder. "I know how interested you are in dessert, but this is for Ms. Anne."
"Ms. Anne gets tons of cakes," Percy says, though he backs off after his mom passes him the mostly empty bowl of chocolate batter. He hip bumps Y/N out of the way to get access to the silverware drawer. "I get, like, two a year. My birthday and your birthday."
"You'd get more cakes if you helped bake them," Sally tells him.
Percy scowls, using a spoon to scoop some of the batter up. "That's not the answer I wanted."
Y/N laughs at this, and Percy smiles at her before he shoves the spoon in his mouth, passing the bowl off to her. She gives it a cautious look. "Isn't there raw eggs in this?"
"Who cares?" Percy says, though he's not sure if she understands with the spoon still in his mouth. He takes it out. "Not enough to kill us, even if there is."
"It's dangerous." Y/N returns the bowl, but seems unperturbed as he takes care of it on his own.
He leans against the counter beside her and nudges her side. "When's your birthday?"
"Soon," Y/N vaguely replies. "When's yours?"
"How soon? I was hoping to get in on another cake," Percy says jokingly, but tries to look serious, too. Y/N's birthday is a thing he wants to know. "August 18th."
"February 3rd," she answers, measured. "And I haven't celebrated my birthday for three years, so don't even think about it."
"What?" Percy cries, shooting his mother a distressed look. He abandons his bowl of cake batter and crosses his arms to express how outraged he is. "That's awful. We have to make three cakes to make up for it."
Sally and Y/N both laugh, but the latter seems a little embarrassed. He presses his fingertips against her upper arm and leaves them there. "I mean, there was no real celebration. I got a car the year before the last; books last year. Parties celebrating me feel weird."
"That'd be my favorite kind of party," Percy mentions idly. "I'd plan, attend, and stay for the after party while I thought about next year's."
Y/N smiles up at him like she's about to laugh, but won't let herself. It's a good look on her, no matter how much he'd like to hear her laugh. "You're ridiculous. Who has after parties for a party?"
"Me, when I'm having an Y/N Party," Percy declares, making a little face. "Don't point out my illogisticalness."
"Illogicalness," Y/N corrects boredly. Percy wants to kiss her, and he has every intent to—except, his mom chooses that moment to clear her throat, announcing that the cake's all done and she's heading over to say hi to Ms. Anne. She doesn't even bother inviting them.
"I think we just ran her off," Percy says, feeling a little nervous. He's alone with Y/N, and she's about a half-centimeter away from him. "Oops."
"Have you thought about yesterday?" Y/N has this thing about her, something that Percy's both admired and abhorred since the day he met her—she's straight-forward in a way that he's not even sure how to respond to, most of the time. She's giving him this look, like he should know all the answers, and Percy wants to throw his hands up and confess that he has a C-average in all of his classes, except for economics, where he's scoring a high B.
"Might've for a second or two." Percy doesn't expect to sound all that convincing, and, predictably, his voice is quiet with a tinge of nerves. Not too far off from how he's feeling, actually.
"Just a second or two," Y/N responds, staring at him with this weirdly blank look on her face. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"That..." Percy pauses. He could choose the humor route, which involves a very smooth deflection of the question, or he could just tell her what he's skirting around. He probably would have picked the first, if Y/N hadn't leaned close to him, making the decision for him. "Means that there was about a second or two that I wasn't thinking about it, probably," he mutters, sniffing. The whole room smells like cake—cake that he won't be eating, which is just disappointing—but he's getting a hint of the chocolate kind, too, and he knows that's Y/N. "That sounds stupid," he adds.
"Yeah, but I'm used to that," Y/N says, rolling her eyes. Percy is hopeless, probably, when he gets to the point that every little thing she does makes him smile. "I thought about it, too."
"Never been kissed in a kitchen." He tries to keep his stance casual, but—well, he's himself, so that never goes well.
"Really," Y/N says drily, but she cracks a smile.
Percy stares down at his feet. "We could kiss right now."
"Ugh, please. We aren't going to be those people that have one of those stupid, romantic repeated phrases—that's so cliche, Percy." Y/N gives him a distasteful look, but her eyes are saying she isn't that annoyed.
"You said it," he points out, sending her a look.
"Probably because you would have never done it if I wouldn't have," she shoots back, sending him a look of the same breed. Percy just stares at her until she moves to stand in front of him, reaching out her hands until they touch his chest. He reaches up to hold both of them, just because Y/N's hands are the kind that beg to be held. He must look smug, since Y/N scoffs and says, "Don't look so pleased that you got your way."
"You always looked pleased when you get yours," he tries to argue, but the feigned irritation melts right away when she intertwines their fingers, swaying closer to him. A wispy lock falls out of her loose ponytail in the process, and Percy watches Y/N give her best attempt to get it out of her face without using her hand. Eventually, she sheepishly drops his hand and tucks the hair back into her ponytail. "I'm really glad my hair isn't that long. Seems like work."
"Believe me when I say it is," Y/N says under her breath. "I'd be fine if it weren't frizzy, too."
"I like them," Percy tells her, resisting the urge to reach out and tug one. He learned that lesson the hard way. He pulls her a little closer instead, until her free hand falls to rest over his collarbone, like instinct. Percy wants to hug Y/N, so he does.
And, Percy will freely admit, it feels nice to have Y/N close without feeling stupidly nervous over whether or not he's an alright kisser, or whether or not he's allowed to put his hands here or there, or whether or not she'll get annoyed when he doesn't want to rush things. It feels nice to just be with each other, for a moment.
As most things do, that moment passes. Mostly because Y/N's fingertips start tapping against his collarbone in time with his heartbeat—he doesn't even want to think about her actually listening to it, since the thought is so sweet he'd probably just confess his immoderate love right then and there—and she presses this terrible phantom kiss to his jaw.
Percy looks up at the ceiling, wondering if anyone would shout back at him if he silently asked why me?! He decides that they won't, and apparently Y/N decides it's time to press a real kiss to his jaw, this time closer to his chin. Percy lets out a half-laugh, half-groan and leans out of her reach.
"What?" Y/N asks, smirking at him. "Did you like that, or something?"
"It's like it's your job to embarrass me," Percy responds, feeling that customary blush starting at his chest start creeping up. His neck's probably bright red before he finishes his sentence.
"Are you offering a full-time position? I'd like to apply."
Percy gives her an exasperated look, but he's kind of smiling too, so it loses it's effect. Y/N finally presses a kiss to his lips, and Percy has to force his grin down to return it properly.
Percy thinks he could get used to this. Come to think of it, he could get used to a lot of things, like the way Y/N isn't shy about pulling his hair gently, or the way she laughs against his lips when he reaches up to hold on tight to her upper arm, or the way she fidgets with the collar of his shirt. Yes, those are very much things Percy could jump on board with and never look back.
Percy pulls away first, not-so-coincidentally a second after her nails dig into his collarbone the slightest bit. He pauses, narrowing his eyes at Y/N. She stares back innocently, petting at the stretched collar of his shirt. "Can I help you?" she questions, leaning down and planting a kiss on the fabric over his collarbone.
He idly touches her jaw, pausing to think for a second. He's all about casual kisses; don't mind him in the slightest. "Nope. I'm all good right here."
Y/N gives him a look that's some sort of twist between a smile and a frown. "Percy," she admonishes. "Stop being nice. You'll make me feel mean."
"I like it when you're mean, a little. I mean I'm sure I'd reach a point where I'd actually get mad, but I haven't so far." He shrugs, unconcerned, because they'll cross that bridge when they come to it. "Plus, I can have an attitude sometimes too."
"Even your worst attitude is still somewhat nice," Y/N grumbles, patting down his arms until she happens upon his hands. He glances down at them, and he finds himself enjoying the contrast between them; small and large, dainty and bony. Y/N always has some signs that she's been working away at something, whether it's a small spot of paint, or a smattering of ink across her fingertips, or a grey tint to the side of her palm from dragging her hand across the paper while she wrote in pencil. "So..."
"Yes, that's always a good topic," Percy says, nodding seriously. "One of my favorites."
"Shut up," Y/N manages through the grin she's making valiant attempts to bite back. Percy appreciates her endurance, if nothing else. She, he's noticed, tends to laugh at him when he isn't being all that funny and refuses to laugh when he's actually made a joke. "What are we doing?"
The question seems to be addressing more than just their current position, but Percy tackles the easiest answer first. "Well, we're in a kitchen," he says slowly. "Holding hands." He swings them a little for emphasis, and her eyes flicker down to watch before she looks up at him, a hint of apprehension on her face. "And... we're taking it slow. I think. I want?"
Y/N raises an eyebrow. "Is that a question?"
"Sort of. I want to know if you agree. If it's oThalia with you, that's what I want to do." He raises his eyebrows expectantly.
"So we're not dating?" She doesn't look disappointed or relieved, and Percy can't tell if he's saying the right thing.
He decides to tell the truth and see where it gets him. "Uh..." Percy clears his throat and runs one foot over the other. "Maybe not in so many words? But we aren't dating other people. I hope."
"Casually exclusive," Y/N suggests, and Percy makes a sound that hopefully expresses his agreement. "That... Sounds nice, actually."
He smiles, bringing up their joined hands to press at the side of her face. She gives him a weird look, and Percy can't really explain himself—he'd wanted to touch her cheek, preferably where that dimple (also known as the death of him) tends to pop up, but he didn't want to let go of either of her hands. He did his best to find a nice compromise.
"How long do you think your mom'll be gone?" Y/N asks after a second, curiously.
"Probably"—there's a small racket at the door swings open, and Percy tips his head back in annoyance—"too soon," he finishes, whining a little.
Y/N rolls her eyes and manages to work in a millisecond of a kiss before Sally walks in. Percy smooths down his wrinkled shirt-pointlessly, and probably just making himself look more suspicious. "Did Ms. Anne like the cake?" Y/N asks politely. She presses her elbow closer to his, and Percy revels in the skin-on-skin contact. Y/N's always warm. "She was very happy," Sally returns, and not without a maternal smile in Y/N's direction. Percy's heart swells a little at the sight of that. "Did you two behave yourselves?"
"Absolutely not," Y/N answers in a way that definitely comes off as a joke, but she nudges his foot with her own. He hides a smile in his shoulder. "We caused all kinds of trouble."
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A/N; Guys! I am so so sorry. I haven't updated this book in wayyy too long. So, despite the fact, that I have a WIP due tomorrow and some homework. I'm gonna finish the book and be able to say complete, which feels so nice.