After peering at my reflection for what seemed like hours on end, a knock on my apartment door interrupted me and alerted me of Percy's arrival. I quickly tousled my hair once more for good measure before rushing to the door.

"Hey, sorry about the mess," I apologized as I led Percy inside, closing the door behind him. "I know, it's bad."

Percy simply laughed and ushered away my concerns with a wave of his hand, which caused me to calm down a bit. "It's fine, Annabeth. We've had this discussion before. Now, where's Alice?"

At the mention of her name Alice climbed off of the couch and rushed over to us, jumping up and down excitedly. Percy grinned as Alice greeted him with a hug, like she greeted everyone who came over, even our landlord (which was quite awkward.)

Alice had been thrilled when I'd told her the plan of Percy babysitting her, insisting that she needed to watch Nemo again with the cool guy, causing Thalia to roll her eyes all the way to her brain.

"Bedtime is at seven-thirty, but eight if she can't sleep," I explained as I made my way to the kitchen counter, both Percy and Alice on my trail. "Here's a piece of paper with things you need to know. It has my number, Thalia's, my dad's, the hospital's, etc. And this also has her bedtimes on it in case you forget. Her nighttime routine is on here, too. She's already eaten dinner, but there are snacks in the fridge, and I wrote down which one she can and cannot have.

Percy's eyes widened as he picked up the piece of paper and scanned it. He flipped it to reveal the second side and chuckled. "You're prepare. You haven't changed on bit."

I nodded before snatching the piece of paper from him and scribbling down the address of the architectural conference which I had acquired an hour earlier. "This is a very elite conference, so only go there if you're in desperate need of finding me, which I don't think you will be. If there are any emergencies you go straight to the emergency room, not to me. Got it?"

"Okay, I think so," Percy replied with a nod. Then he turned his attention to me and grinned. "You look great tonight, by the way. You're gonna nail this conference."

I felt my face turn red and tried my best to keep my blushing to a minimum with little to no success. I'd picked out a professional yet elegant black dress to my knees which I'd paired with a pair of black heels. I had accessorized sparingly but had allowed my hair to fall down out of its usual ponytail, which had clearly surprised Percy.

"Oh, thanks," I managed to say. After peering at Percy, who was smiling at me, for a while I suddenly realized I was running late, so I jumped into action.

I sprinted to my bedroom where I grabbed my coat and bag. I grabbed the handle and was about to open the door before I hear giggling.

"What?" I asked Percy and Alice, who were both giggling and peering at each other suspiciously. "What is it? Do I have something in my teeth?"

Percy shook his head. "Your dress is unzipped."

I groaned and tried my best to reach the zipper without breaking my arm with no success. "I'm wearing a jacket. It'll be fine. Or could you, uh....never mind."

"Tell me," Percy persisted. "I can help you, you know."

I sighed as I made my way closer to Percy and turned around so he was facing my back. "Fine, help me zip this up?"

Percy swept my blonde curls out of the zipper's way. His warm hands brushed against my neck, causing me to shiver as he slowly zipped up the back of my dress.

"Here you go," he whispered as he finished and stepped away. I turned back to face him. "You're gonna do amazing tonight. You look the part."

"Yeah, right," I replied. "I'm a nervous wreck right now."

Percy rolled his eyes. "You always say that. Annabeth, you're gonna do great, I can tell. You really haven't changed a bit since high school."

"I wasn't this stressed in high school," I responded
with a pout as I crossed my arms defensively. "I was chill then! Laid back, even!"

"That's the biggest lie I've ever heard," Percy said with a sly grin. "You didn't accept anything less than an A on any assignments and started worrying about colleges in the seventh grade!"

"Sixth, actually," I corrected him. "I'd been worrying about colleges way before I ever met you."

"Whatever the case is, you're great, Chase," Percy said with a grin as he took my hands in his, which threw me off. "And you look great...."

I closed my eyes and was prepared to lean in for a kiss, something Percy and I have done nearly hundreds of times, before I heard Alice rush into the room.

My eyes quickly reopened and I dropped Percy's hands and stepped a good foot away from him. "Alright, well, you two have fun. I'm leaving now, bye, Alice."

Percy's face was a bright red as he stepped out of Alice's way. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head as Alice pulled me into an embrace.

"Alright, well, don't let her stay up too late," I told Percy, who just smiled, his face still somewhat red. "And text me for any updates."

"You're crazy," Percy said with a weak smile. "Now go knock 'em dead."