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“I want to do a movie night.”
A splint of the afternoon sun pleads into the room and onto Percy’s face as he sits in front of the Activities Director’s desk. It was the first time that a meeting of this sort wasn’t meant as a punishment, but more of a collaboration, maybe even a celebration for him. It was the last week of the summer before he left camp and the activity director had informed him he could choose the last night’s activity…a sort of gift for the hell he had to endure during the summer. Including going to hell…sorry the Underworld.
Chiron leaned back against his magically enhanced chair, hiding his centaur body. He eyed the boy curiously, raising an eyebrow. “A movie night?” He questioned.
“You do know what a movie is right?” Percy asks. The centaur softly chuckled in response.
He pushed up his glasses to his face. “Percy, I was alive when they invented movies. I think I know a thing or two about them.” He states. He observes the boy for a moment more. “We just never done one here before. May I ask what brought this on?”
Annabeth is the first thing that hits Percy’s mind. A more recurring occurrence these days for him, especially after the past few weeks' events. He found it his mission to find ways to make her smile. He liked her smile, it felt rare these past few days and he wanted to change that. “I just heard that some campers haven’t seen a movie before. Though it would be cool for them to experience that…you know safely.”
Chiron hums before putting his hands together, deep in thought. “I suppose we could use the sheet and projector we use for camp orientation. Hephaestus cabin could help with the setup, I’m sure Aphrodite cabin would help with decor arrangements. Hermes with some movie options for delivery.” Percy watched with wide eyes as the director continued to ponder.
“I’ll allow it.” Percy shot up in excitement.
“Really?!” Percy asked, with glee in his words. The director smiled at him and nodded.
“We can start working on the arrangements this afternoon. And the movie of course is PG since it’s being shown to all of camp.” Percy nodded rapidly, excited that for once an idea of his was getting approved by authority figures.
“Thank you, Annabeth- I mean the campers will be thrilled.” A small smirk landed on Chiron’s face as the boy’s words dawned on him. He nods amusingly.
“Im sure, she will. Mr. Jackson.” He states.
˚*＊✿❀༓❀✿＊*˚
Turns out that trying to plan an event for the entire camp was a lot more than just coming up with an idea and grabbing supplies. Percy had learned that there was an entire committee dedicated to camp events, who were more than happy to tackle something new for a change. “Being the camp golden boy has perks. We’ve been wanting to do something different for years.” Silena, the newly dawned counselor of Aphrodite, had recall at its assembly.
Through the chaos of it, Percy found it nice to mingle with the other campers for something other than training to one day potentially fight a war of the ages. There was one consequence to his newfound bonding. The absence of Annabeth.
She was still around, at least physically. Fulfilling her duties as a camp counselor as she hadn’t remembered the events that occurred. But Percy knew Annabeth, at least enough to know that she wasn’t herself. Her replies weren’t as snarky. Her use of seaweed brain had dwelled almost completely and their conversation was mostly small talk as they saw each other during activities.
So as the day of the event finally arrived, Percy was determined to get her out of her shell once more. He made his way to the Athena cabin, a path he found himself memorizing the minute he got back from his quest. His heart unexpectedly beat faster as he approached the door with the owl-shaped symbol.
It was mostly open already, probably due to most of the campers rushing to the night’s events. He knocks on the door softly. “Hello?” he calls out. There’s no response.
He proceeds a little further following the silence. Various pieces of paper and books take over the floor, and shelves of little trinkets and devices fill the space. He looks to his left to see someone sitting at a desk, covered by a tall bookshelf. He smiles a bit to himself as he spots the black braids that cascade down their back. Of course.
Percy walks over to the bookshelf, leaning on it slightly before tapping her shoulder. Annabeth naturally flinches and turns around with a stoned look, clearly ready to yell at the person disturbing her before locking eyes with him. Her shoulders slump down as her face softens at the sight. A small smile grows on her face. “Hi.”
“Hey,” Percy replies. He stares at her for a second more before clearing his throat. “Everyone’s out at the amphitheater for the final night.” Annabeth turned around and looked back down at her work, a random sketch of a building that she had been pouring her attention to.
“Good for them,” Annabeth said. She resumes the sketch that she was working on once more. Percy knew then, that it wasn’t going to be an easy feat. Before he could say anything else, she continued. “Chiron is going to say the same speech he did last year and Mr. D will bring out his puppets again or the Apollo kids will perform some ridiculous skit. And oooh, don’t forget about when they release the UNO cards.” As she speaks, the pencil is hitting the paper harder and harder. The sounds of paper scratches increase quickly.
He looks on for a moment. “You okay there?” he slightly joked, trying to break whatever wall Annabeth was creating for herself.
“Fine,” she says sharply before continuing to scribble harsher until the screech of paper breaking apart is heard, causing her to clock out of whatever she was feeling. There’s a brief pause between the two. Annabeth blankly looks at the sheet of paper, now with a rip in the middle. Percy moves off the bookshelf before grabbing the chair from the desk next to hers and sitting down.
“Talk to me, Annabeth. What’s up?” Percy pleads.
She sighs quietly before sitting up and staring at the wall, fidgeting with the pencil in her hand. “Luke and I used to go together. We would make fun of everything and I would beat him in UNO….every single time,” she speaks softly. She turns towards Percy. “I guess, I don’t like the idea of going to something that will remind me that-” she stops herself as if she is not able to come up with the words to continue.
Oh . Percy never considered how many things were truly attached to Luke for Annabeth. Unlike him, this wasn’t just a summer betrayal, but a familial one. It’s not something that you can exactly shake off in a few weeks.
“Well…” he starts. “This one is going to be different.” Annabeth scoffs. “I helped plan it.”
“That’s nice,” Annabeth states in a monotone voice, turning back over to the sheet. He hears in the distance the camp horn, signaling 5 minutes before everything begins. He doesn’t want this to be the last conversation they have before their final goodbye. He wanted this night to be good. For this to be a good night for her, despite it all.
“I want-” he stuttered for a moment. Sighing before he closed his eyes at his next statement. “It would be nice to hang out with you before I have to leave tomorrow. I’ll…miss you, I guess.” Annabeth drops her pencil onto the desk suddenly. She blinks rapidly before turning her attention back to Percy.
She bit her lip nervously before responding. “Miss me, huh?” Percy couldn’t help by crack a smile seeing a return of her snarkiness weaving in.
“Objectively..” he teased back. Annabeth broke out a grin. She gets out of the chair, staring back at him. Percy follows suit, pushing the chair back to its original desk.
“This better be worth it, seaweed brain.” She bumps his shoulder lightly before making her way out of the cabin with Percy a step behind her.
They walk side by side, with a bit of small talk as they make their way to the amphitheater. But Annabeth suddenly stops walking when she sees it for the first time. Her eyes wander to the giant sheet hanging between two trees with log benches and stumps surrounding the area. “What is all of this?” she asks, looking ahead. Percy smiles.
“Annabeth Chase. Welcome to your first movie night.” Annabeth turned towards him with a smile hitting her face.
“A movie?!” she almost screams in joy, but quickly refrains herself. “But how?”
“Talked to Chiron and helped me get some campers together to assist. Everyone seemed pretty down. Cabin 9 helped out with the setup, Cabin 10 helped decorate or at least got others to help decorate.” Percy said, messing with the sleeve of his flannel nervously. “Do you like it?”
Annabeth nodded rapidly, looking around once more at the campers around them settling down. “Where should we sit?” she asked. Percy points to a log towards the back.
“The back is always the best place to sit for movies.” Silena approaches the pair as they begin making their way to their newly found seat. Percy notions Annabeth to sit without him as the older camper brings Percy aside.
“Everything seems good to go with the movie. Chiron is going to do his speech or whatever and then it will start.” Silena updates. Percy lets out a sigh of relief that for once, things were going okay, with no chaos to figure out last minute.
“Okay, good. Thanks for your help” His eyes drift off to Annabeth who is sitting on the log he pointed out, waving at some campers as they pass by her. “I think this would be good for…everyone,” Percy says. The Aphrodite girl smiles.
“I hope so. It’s been forever since I’ve seen one.” She follows his eyeline for a moment then back towards him. Silena smiles once more. “She’s gonna love it.”
“We are just-” Silena puts her finger up in response.
“I didn’t say you weren’t. But the night is young, Percy.” She winks at him. “Enjoy it.” Silena nudged him back over to Annabeth, who was looking back at them. She quickly turns around at their gaze. Percy gives Silena a small wave before sitting next to Annabeth on the log. A reasonable, but small gap between them. This is friendly. We are friends. Sitting together, watching a movie. What’s more friendly than that?
But as Chiron appears in front of the campers and proceeds to speak, Percy can’t help but let his mind spiral a little. He turns to Annabeth who is muttering the words under her breath, causing a chuckle or two out of him. He liked spending time with her when it wasn’t so chaotic. There was a nice sense of balance knowing someone who sets him straight but can match his energy if they choose to do so.
As the speech ended and the Disney logo began to appear on screen, Annabeth leaned towards Percy. Their shoulders brushed lightly, which shouldn’t have sent a small shiver across his chest…but it did. “So how does this work? What’s the rules?” she whispers.
“What do you mean?”
“Like can we talk? Do I have to clap at the end like my dad said white people on a plane do?” Percy chuckled at the last one.
“Well, if we were in a movie theater, things would be a little different. But umm- whispering like this is fine. We are outside and I’m sure others will be doing the same. Do what you want but clapping isn’t necessary like a theater performance?” Annabeth nodded in response, taking in the comments.
“Are you okay if I ask more questions if I have any?” she whispers. “I don’t want to be a bother.” Percy shook his head.
“No problem at all, wise girl.” She smiles at the sentiment, pushing a braid back behind her ear. “Plus it will be nice knowing more than you for once,” Percy added. She playfully shoved his shoulder before turning her attention towards the screen. Percy did not fail to notice that the gap between them had already shrunk a few inches. And in the back of his mind, he was hoping it would be more throughout the night.
˚*＊✿❀༓❀✿＊*˚
It was worth two meetings of debate, but after a coin toss (or three) between the committee, the Aphrodite cabin won their movie pick, The Princess and the Frog. The movie wasn’t unfamiliar to Percy, he had seen it a handful of times in the past. His mother was insistent that he watch the various princess movies throughout his early years, explaining how men aren’t just the heroes in the stories.
But it feels like a whole new experience watching the movie alongside Annabeth. Her face lights up at the colorful animation. A “she looks like me” whispered into the wind as Tiana made her first appearance on the screen. Percy has a feeling he going to wake up with sore cheeks from how much he seems to be smiling and he doesn’t mind it quite a bit. He finds her commentary also quite entertaining.
“Do they sing throughout the whole thing?”
“Yeah, it's a musical?”
“A frog? Wouldn’t she get warts?”
“It’s a Disney movie. They won’t show it.”
“Why would he make that dumb deal?”
“To move the plot along.”
They both found themselves nodding along to the music. Percy found himself reciting some of the lines to
‘Almost There’ quietly. Annabeth giggled at his antics, poking fun at him.
“How many times did you say you have watched this movie?”
“Like twice…okay maybe four times.”
As the beginning notes of Ma Belle Evangeline began to play through the amphitheater speakers, Annabeth seemed to be more engrossed in the film than ever before. Percy couldn’t help but find his eyes trained on her rather than the animated events playing on the screen. Watching as her smile grew bigger as frog Naveen guided Tiana across the pond in a dance. Percy found the expression quite sweet….pretty even.
Why is he even thinking this? She’s just a girl…a friend. Just Annabeth…right?
He quickly snaps himself out of his stare, turning his attention back to the screen. Annabeth’s eyes draw away from the screen as she observes the campers surrounding her. “Are we supposed to do that?” she whispers. Percy turns to the direction she staring at and sees two campers cuddled against each other on the log. “Is that how people watch movies?” she asks curiously, not looking away from them.
Percy takes a sharp breath. “Not everyone…” Percy struggles to figure out the exact words. “Just people who like each other…I guess.” They are silent for a moment, processing the words in different ways. Suddenly, Annabeth shuffles slightly closer to him. She quickly places her head on his shoulder… imitating the campers across from them. Percy looks down at her, surprised. His heart beat a little bit faster. (a lot faster, honestly)
“Like this?” she whispers. He should correct her. Tell her that this was a more romantic gesture. Something that couples did. Not friends…at least he thinks friends don’t do this. Maybe they do. But he should clarify that.
So when “Yeah, this works.” slips his tongue instead, it is clear that he wouldn’t be correcting her. His voice pitched a little higher as he spoke the three words. Her braids slightly tickled his neck, but he found the gesture kinda nice. Internally debating with putting his arm around her or not, he settles with extending it past her left side, placing his hand on the log beside her waist. Praying that everyone was too engrossed in the movie to see them in a position that he is sure will make them the talk of the camp for the next year.
They kept that position for the remainder of the movie. Annabeth’s commentary turned to awes and gasps as she became engrossed in the plot of the movie once more. A whispered ‘finally’ when Tiana turned back into her human form permanently. The vibration of Percy’s chuckle caused Annabeth’s head to move slightly but she chose to simply readjust.
As the last notes of the movie ring, Percy catches Annabeth wiping a tear from her eye. “She got everything she wanted,” she whispers.
“Yeah,” Percy says, looking down at Annabeth. She catches his eyes and smiles softly. “I’m guessing you like the movie.” Annabeth nods, still with her head against his shoulder.
“It was great. I want to watch another one.” Annabeth states. Percy lets out a laugh.
“We will definitely watch more.” Annabeth finally lifted her head from his shoulder, causing the wind to hit it softly. Making Percy miss its presence. She held out her pinkie finger towards him.
“Promise, especially next summer?” she asked. Percy couldn’t help but think of next summer already. Maybe it will be calmer, spending a whole summer without a quest and just being a camper. He smiles before linking her finger with his.
“Promise.”
And as Percy laid his head in on his bed in the Poseidon cabin later that night, he couldn’t help but think back to Annabeth’s smile.
˚*＊✿❀༓❀✿＊*˚
The breeze was light as the two preteens walked towards the camp entrance the next day. Percy feels all of the emotions leaving camp and his newfound friendships to go back to the city. Even if it was just for the year. The duo planned to meet Grover who was waiting for them by Thalia’s tree for a final ‘see you later’ before they ventured off their separate ways. Even Annabeth would be going home for the first time in years.
It was silent for a moment, both of them not sure of the words to say as they began their departure. Then, Annabeth breaks it with a surprising sentence.
“Why did you let me lay my head on your shoulder last night?”
Percy stops dead in his tracks before he turns towards her, struggling to form any sort of response that doesn’t sound insanely stupid. Annabeth opted to continue her thought instead. “It’s just Malcolm and some of my other siblings saw and were teasing me about it at breakfast.”
He gulped before finally forming a somewhat sane response. “Uh, I mean you seemed comfortable.” He felt himself grow flushed. They are friends. Friends sometimes do that with each other. “Friends make sure friends are comfortable.” He rants, trying to justify both to her and in his head that it wasn’t a big deal. There is a brief moment of awkwardness between them. Annabeth seems to be working out the situation like a math problem, trying to connect the x and y. She blinked at him once as a way of notifying him that she figured out what she wanted to say.
“It was kinda bony, to be honest,” Annabeth said as she playfully knocked into him before walking ahead. Percy froze in place for a moment before catching up with her. “And we don’t have to make it a thing or whatever,” she adds, causing Percy to let out a laugh as she recalled his words to her during their quest.
“You seem to be the one making it a thing this time.” Percy teased back.
“My siblings were making it a thing. Not me.” He nods in head in response, not believing her fully. He liked to think that she was having the same spiral that he was. She stops again, this time in front of him, and holds out her hand. “Let’s shake on it.”
Percy is surprised at the gesture. “What?”
“Let’s agree that it doesn’t have to be a thing. It happened. We don’t have to think about it again.” She extends her hand out a little more. “Deal?” Percy knows there is no way that he will not stop thinking about this, for a long time. He doesn’t like the idea of Annabeth forgetting about it either. Still did not place why he felt that way, but chose to ignore his racing thoughts as per usual.
He places his hand into hers and shakes it once. “Deal.”
˚*＊✿❀༓❀✿＊*˚
And it’s totally not a thing. Well, except when he shows her a horror movie the next summer after their quest in his cabin one night with an old iPad from the Hermes cabin. A jump scare caused her to grab his arm and bury her face into his chest. They decide not to speak on that either.
But it’s definitely not a thing, two summers later when he worked up the courage to have her do it again in an actual movie theater and maybe even hold her hand. But then that got ruined by some monsters and a summer full of pure peril.
Three summers later, they officially break the deal when Percy sneaks them out of camp so they can go see the live-action version of The Princess and the Frog in theatres together. Annabeth laid her head down on his shoulder and Percy didn’t hesitate to move his arm around her, squeezing her towards him.
“Can I tell you something?” Annabeth whispers delicately as the final trailer wraps up. Percy lays a quick kiss on her forehead.
“Always.”
“Remember when we watched the animated one at camp?”
“Yeah”
“I lied.” Percy looks down at her in confusion. She continued. “I knew…that couples cuddled during movies. Read it in a book. I spotted Sara and Kyle doing it and I kinda wanted to test it out on someone.”
“So I was just a test dummy?” Percy asks, clearly amused at the situation at hand.
“No, you…” she hesitates for a moment. “You were the only one I wanted to test it on actually.” Percy’s smile grew bigger at the sentiment. He squeezed her shoulders.
“So you just wanted to get close to me, huh?” Percy teased. “Simp.”
Annabeth scoffed in response, but not denying his claim. “Says the man who simped in front of the gods for me…how many times now?”
“I get your point,” Percy grumbled. Annabeth lifted her head and brushed her lips against his for a moment.
“But you are all mine now.”
“Yeah, all yours.” He takes her lips into his for a moment, before quickly kissing her nose. She giggles in response, before making her way back to his shoulder. Placing a kiss there before placing her head on top.
And as Ma Belle Evangeline appears on the screen, he can’t help but feel every word spoken for Annabeth. His Annabeth.
Je t'adore, Je t'aime Annabeth.