#jillians tags made me realize i should clarify that i don’t condone cheating and never would🧍🏼

[bbyannabeth]

Can u plss write a percabeth illicit affairs fic ??

ya this fic has straight up cheating, like full on adultery, so if that is not your thing, do not read!

percy was only a little out of breath when annabeth opened her door. he shuffled inside quickly.

“where did you tell her you were going?” annabeth asked.

“out with jason,” he replied. “she didn’t suspect a thing.”

annabeth nodded and then her lips quirked up into a smile. “so i guess we have a few hours then?”

percy smiled back. he felt the whirlwind in his stomach that he thought was too aggressive to just be butterflies. “guess so,” he whispered. his hand found annabeth’s and he tugged her close, immediately closing the gap between their lips.

it had been an accident, the first time it happened. and the second and third time. but then they decided they couldn’t get enough of each other, and after that, it was no longer an accident. it became their little secret, something that they hid from their friends. and percy’s girlfriend, of course.

he loved rachel. or rather, he had still loved her when he and annabeth first started hooking up. now, months later… well, he wasn’t sure. he was still with rachel because she was easy to be with and she loved him and on some level, he did still love her. just… not as much as he’d grown to love annabeth.

he’d figure it out eventually. that wasn’t a very easy thing to do, though, when annabeth slid her hands under the hem of his shirt and began to fumble with the button on his jeans.

-

when percy got home just after midnight, he had expected the apartment to be dark and quiet. he expected to find rachel asleep in there bed. he had not expected to find her up, waiting for him with her arms crossed.

“hey babe…” percy said slowly. anxiety grew quickly in his chest.

“hey babe,” rachel echoed, deceptively sweet. “how was hanging out with jason?”

“uh, good?” percy replied. “we just hung out at a bar and rewatched the game.”

“oh?” rachel nodded before walking over to the table by the entryway and placing her hand a toolbox. percy tensed immediately. “so then why did jason come over earlier to drop this off?”

percy blinked. “when?” he asked, his voice shaking more than it should’ve.

“around 9:30. you know, the time you said you were meeting him.” percy didn’t know what to say, so rachel continued, “and when i asked him if he was going to meet you after he dropped it off, he had no idea what i was talking about.”

percy stared at her. rachel’s knuckles were white as she gripped the toolbox handle. “where were you, percy?”

he took a breath. “okay, i can explain,” he said, his mind racing as he tried to think of something, anything. but there was nothing. “i-”

“please don’t lie to me, percy,” rachel whispered. her eyes were glossy and all the fight went out of him. it was bound to end anyway, he couldn’t have gone on like this forever, but he had never wanted it to end like this. he’d never wanted to hurt her.

“i was with annabeth,” he said. a million emotions flew through rachel’s eyes at once, but the ones percy recognized most were confusion, shock, anger, and hurt.

“annabeth?” she breathed. “why? why would you lie about being with her?”

he knew rachel already suspected why, maybe she already knew why. she has never liked annabeth all that much because of her natural jealous streak. but she had tolerated her and been civil with her because annabeth was percy’s best friend. and maybe rachel had sensed the intensity of his feelings for annabeth before he had even realized the depth of them himself.

“rach,” he whispered. it was all he could say.

all of her breath left her in a harsh exhale. “you. were you- did you? percy,” she said, her breathing uneven. the anger in her was building because it came out in the next punch. “i always knew it. i knew you loved her,” she spat.

percy couldn’t deny it if he wanted to. he stayed silent, his eyes dropping. rachel let out a sob and next thing he knew, she was pushing him out the door and telling him to get the fuck out. he went willingly. and he did the only thing he could think of - he called annabeth.

twenty minutes later, he was stepping into her apartment again like he’d done hours ago. he hadn’t told annabeth much on the phone other than the fact that rachel was kicking him out. “what happened?” she asked.

“well she was up when i got home and she asked how hanging out with jason was,” percy started and he watched annabeth’s eyes widen.

“oh god,” she muttered.

“and i said fun,” percy continued. “and then she asked if that was the case, why did jason bring over the toolbox he borrowed last week and then proceed to have no idea that he was supposed to be meeting at the bar.”

“fuck,” annabeth whispered.

percy nodded. “yeah i didn’t realize it until i was on my way home, but he texted me a little after 9:30 asking where i was. i never replied to it but it makes more sense now.”

“what happened next?”

“she asked where i was and i was going to try to just… make something up but then she told me not to lie to her and i just… i couldn’t,” percy said, shrugging. “so i told her i was with you. she figured it out after that.”

annabeth frowned. “figured it out?” she asked. “we’re friends though, we could’ve been… hanging out.”

“i wouldn’t have lied about that,” he said, averting his eyes. and she said she knew i loved you.

“oh. yeah,” annabeth said, realizing that the planning had been more incriminating than she had thought. she wrapped her arms around her middle. “what happens now then?”

percy shrugged. “i knew it was gonna end eventually,” he said. he probably should’ve been more upset about it than he was, but annabeth was looking at him with worried eyes and he was happier here now than he could’ve ever been with rachel. the intensity and tenderness of her gaze is what made him spit out his next words. “she knew i loved you. that’s why she figured it out.”

annabeth blinked. she blinked several times, as if she couldn’t process what he said. “you what?”

“love you,” he whispered. “i didn’t mean for that to happen but you’re… my best friend and i love you.”

annabeth stared at him for another second with those big, gray eyes he knew so well. he’d always been so used to them over the years but in the last couple months, the stolen glances across the room or the mischievous flickers when he’d smile at her were more prevalent in his mind than they should’ve been. for a moment, he thought he’d ruined everything. and then she crossed the room and tugged him into a hard kiss.

“fuck. i love you,” she muttered. percy gripped her waist tighter, already steering them down the familiar path to her room.

“i love you,” he mumbled back. maybe he should’ve been more concerned about rachel, or how badly jumping into something with annabeth could be, but it was so damn hard to be concerned about anything at all when annabeth was tearing off his shirt.