Annabeth didn't have the time to think about what she was doing, much less what Piper was up to.

Tristan stood, stopwatch in hand, in front of the two large buckets.

Annabeth stood before one, Piper the other. Their hands were firmly held behind their backs, and Piper had pulled her choppy auburn hair back. Each of them were already slightly bent over, anticipating the moment Tristan would call go.

Percy was standing to the left of Annabeth's bucket, the orange scarf blocking his bright eyes and most of his nose, but the giddy smile creasing his cheeks was all too obvious.

Jason stood similarly, to the right of Piper's bucket, but his smile was more of a smirk. His purple blindfold had been double checked by Annabeth, who tolerated no level of cheating.

The two teams hadn't been allowed to talk anything over, giving each of them a fair start. So, consequently, Annabeth and Percy had no idea how to work together on this.

“On your marks. . .”

Annabeth took a deep breath, pushing down the excitement bubbling up inside her so she could focus.

“Get set. . .”

Percy shuffled his feet. Annabeth realized she might have to verbally direct him to an apple, but wasn't sure how if half her head would be submerged under water.

“Go!”

Tristan's voice rang throughout the yard, and Annabeth heard a small splash as Piper reached for an apple with her mouth. Without Jason's help, though, it proved to be difficult. The buckets were deep, so that you couldn't push the apples against the bottom to grab them, and wide, so it was hard to reach the sides with one in tow.

Piper came up. “Grab an apple!”

“Where?” Jason asked, suffering from the effects of the blindfold.

“Anywhere!” Piper exclaimed, water streaming from her face and clinging to her eyelashes. “Just try to reach for the one closest to you, and push it towards my mouth.”

Annabeth watched as Jason reached frantically for any apple. Even if he did grab one, he'd have to find Piper's mouth. With the foolproof blindfolds, there was no way to find your way through the buckets.

Tristan watched with narrowed eyes, ready to catch the time when the first team came up with an apple held firmly in their mouths.

“Annabeth?” Percy said. “What do you want me to do?”

Annabeth was silent for another moment before she spoke.

“Find the bucket with your hands.”

Percy obeyed. He held out his arms and searched blindly for the rim. When he reached it, he plunged his hands into the cool water.

“Good.” Annabeth moved closer to the bucket. “This might not work, but I'm going to put an apple in your hand.” She kept her voice low, but the ruckus to the right of them covered most of the sounds.

Percy nodded, opening his fingers wide.

“Then I'll come up, and you can give it to me.”

He nodded again.

Without another look at Piper and Jason, Annabeth submerged her head into the cold liquid. She'd picked an apple before she went under, so she was right on top of it.

Using her forehead, she gently nudged it into Percy's strong grasp. When she was sure he had it, she shot up, spraying water droplets everywhere.

“Come on, Pipes!” Jason encouraged, now simply standing there with his hands in the bucket while Piper struggled to get a good grasp on an apple.

But Annabeth took no notice of this, instead turning to her own teammate.

“Bring it out,” she told him. “Now find my face.”

Percy furrowed his brow beneath the scarf and reached forward tentatively. Annabeth moved towards his hands, her arms still held behind her back.

She felt water drip down her shirt, not too fond of the feeling, but ignored it. Percy let go of the apple with one hand and searched for her face with the other.

Annabeth watched with an unrecognizable look on her face as Percy cupped her cheek and gently felt for her lips with his thumb. The warmth of his hand felt oddly comforting against her wet skin. His thumb felt for her hand with a softer touch than she could've imagined.

The water cooled her heated blush as Percy moved the apple towards her mouth. Annabeth opened her mouth wide and clamped down on the red fruit, sinking her teeth in as juice dripped down her chin. It was the best apple she'd had in a while, as stupid as it sounded.

“Got it?” Percy whispered.

To let him know she had it, she reached up with her own hand, releasing it from the grasp of her opposite hand, and tapped gently on his blindfold.

Percy grinned and ripped the scarf away from his eyes.

“Got it!”

“We did it!”

Percy's and Jason's voices called out simultaneously.

Tristan stopped the clock. “Tie!” he announced.

Piper took the apple from her mouth and chewed the piece she came away with. “Darn! We almost had it!”

Percy stuck his tongue out at Jason and offered Annabeth a high-five.

Annabeth, realizing she still had the apple in her jaws, pulled it out and accepted the high-five. When Percy and Jason began mock arguing and Piper talked with her dad, Annabeth looked at the apple in her palm.

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She threw the fruit back into the bucket and joined Percy's side in the argument.