More Than Just A Little White Lie~ A Percabeth AU

Chapter 18

The hot tub is outside and I'm chilled to the bone as soon as I step out in the cold. Piper could have at least locked me out with my jacket. Rubbing my hands up and down my arms, I follow the sound of the jets to find Percy.

Percy is alone, just sitting by himself in the water. I wonder where everyone else went. He hasn't noticed me yet and I can still go back inside and continue to hide how I feel. Or I can grow a pair and be honest. Before I can decide which way to go, Percy looks up and sees me standing there.

"Aren't you cold?" He asks, frowning as he takes in my attire.

"Yep. Piper locked me out so that I would come talk to you." I say, sitting at the edge of the jacuzzi. The steam from the water causes my glasses to fog up, so I rest them on the top of my head.

"Talk to me? About why you've been ignoring me?" He asks, coming closer. I can feel the heat of the water and I stick my freezing feet in. I don't answer his questions, instead asking one of my own.

"Well, didn't you get to sit next to who you wanted to? I mean, this has all been about getting back together with Rachel. You should be thanking me." I say, shivering.

"Are you serious? You know, for someone so smart, you can be so fucking dumb sometimes. I wanted to sit with you, Annabeth! I even brought along a book for us to read together. You sat with Piper instead." Percy says, splaying his hands out on top of the water. I stare, not comprehending his words. He wanted to sit with me? And why does everyone keep calling me dumb tonight?

I make a decision and slide further into the hot tub. The hot water envelopes me and Percy retreats back to the other side where he was sitting before. I sit across from him, neither of us speaking. My clothes are soaked now but I don't regret it because I'm no longer freezing.

"Why didn't you just tell me that?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"You keep insisting that all this is fake and that you wanted it to end so I didn't want you to think it was just because of the contract that I wanted you to sit with me." Percy says, staring at the bubbles made by the jets. It hits me then, what he's trying to say.

I slide across the tub slowly before coming to stand in front of him. I rest one hand on top of his floating on the top of the water and he looks up. I'm short enough that even with him sitting down, our faces are level. I come even closer and place my other hand on his cheek. His arm snakes around my back, pulling me in and when our lips touch, my heart explodes. It's different then the other times we kissed, more intense. Percy pulls away after a bit.

"I thought you said no kissing, that you didn't want it to all be fake." He whispers. I lean in and kiss him again, with more force. He seems to understand what I mean and kisses me back. His arm is still around my back, but he moves it down and with about as much effort as it takes to lift a book, he pulls me onto his lap. My hand are in his hair, something I've dreamt about being able to do for weeks.

"Now I know it's not fake." I murmur against his cheek as his mouth travels down my neck. I roll my head to the side, letting out a faint moan as his lips gently kiss my jawline. I never knew that something as simple as his lips on mine could feel so good. The ache that I've been feeling since we almost kissed on halloween is gone, replaced by something stronger. I splay my hands on Percy's cheeks, my thumbs resting on his lower lip. I stare into his eyes, taking in the hungrily way they look at me. His hands are resting on my waist, his long fingers almost touching across my small figure.

I kiss him again with fervor, his tongue slipping inside my mouth. This is an entirely new experience for me and I'm surprised at how much I'm enjoying it. I gently nip his bottom lip and he pulls away, panting.

"Annabeth." He breathe out my name and I inhale sharply. The sound of my name on his lips, the way he says it. My heart feels like it's a racehorse bursting out of the starting gate.

"We are so going to get caught." He whispers and we both laugh quietly. I lean down to kiss him once more before carefully climbing off his lap.

"We should head inside. The chaperones are probably doing bed checks soon." I say and he nods. The high of what just happened is still buzzing and I can feel the tension between us. Percy climbs out of the hot tub first, before offering me his hand. I'm careful not to slip and once out of the warm water, I'm brought back to reality and how fucking cold it is. Percy wraps a large fluffy towel around me and we usher back inside.

****

I wake the next morning with a smile. After Percy had walked me back to my room and kissed me- quite passionately, I might add- goodnight, I'd come inside and changed out of my soaking clothes. Thankfully I had packed extras. Piper stayed out most of the night, waking me briefly at about 4 am when she snuck back in.

"Good morning." I say brightly to the barely moving lump that is my best friend on the neighboring bed to mine.

"Why the hell are you so chipper this morning? What happened to my best friend?" She moans from under her blanket. I have no clue what she did last night but I'm betting she's pretty hungover.

"Oh, nothing." I say, ignoring her attitude. I'd laid out my wet clothes to dry last night before falling asleep and I check to make sure they aren't still damp before packing them up. The bus for home leaves in about an hour. I rip the blanket off of Piper to get her moving. She hisses at the sight of sunlight and acts like the wicked witch of the west when she melted.

"Come on, we have to get going. How much did you drink last night?" I ask, throwing her her clothes.

"It's not how much we drank, it's what. One of the Stolls snuck a bottle of whiskey from his dad's private collection and that shit is strong." She groans. I wrinkle my nose, trying to imagine what she's feeling. I leave her to get ready and go find Percy. I'm feeling very jittery about seeing him again, after what happened last night. I don't know if he actually meant it or if he was just caught up in the moment.

Most of the students are already waiting in the lobby, I can hear too many conversations going at once. I spot him standing with a bunch of his friends from the swim team but he's turned away from me. I rest my hand on the small of his back and he swivels his head in surprise. His face lights up when he discovers that it's me.

"Good morning!" Percy says, sounding delighted. His friends all laugh but I think it's sweet. He leans down to kiss me for the first time in public like this and I don't stop him. A bunch of wolf whistles ring out and my face is red when he pulls away.

"God, you two sicken me." Piper rolls her eyes as she passes by and does the exact same thing with Jason. I ignore her hypocrisy. The chaperones all start herding us towards the bus and Percy and I board, hand in hand. We are two of the last people to board and for some reason, everyone starts clapping as we walk down the aisle. I look up at Percy in confusion but he just shrugs. Rachel gives me an extremely smug smile when I pass her and it's incredibly unnerving. I try to shake it off as we sit down near the back. Percy yawns widely.

"Are you tired?" I ask him.

"Yeah. Do you mind if I use you as a pillow?" He asks and of course I can't say no. He rests his head on my shoulder and I get a large whiff of something that smells like the ocean. The top of his hair tickles my chin. Getting comfortable, I lean my head back against the head rest and close my eyes, soaking up the moment.