She's into it... and so are others

It wasn't till the next morning that she really began to see the effects of the wish, but when she did, it was as if the floodgates had opened. Of course, there were all the younger campers who just told them how much they admired them, but there were also the confessions of crushes.

"So that's fourteen for you, and thirty-five for me," Percy noted exhaustedly, sitting with Annabeth by the lake under the afternoon sun. "I have a feeling you're going to win our bet, huh?"

"Didn't I tell you?" Annabeth replied, with just a hint of pride in her tone. "Though I will say," she continued, "I did not expect Malcolm confessing to me. Kind of weird, honestly."

"Yeah, that's fair. But you did expect him confessing to me?" Percy asked curiously. "I didn't even know he was bi."

A familiar voice interrupted from behind. "Percy, with all due respect, you never notice people's crushes."

"Rachel!" Percy exclaimed. He patted the ground beside him. "So, I'm guessing you came to a decision?"

The redhead sat down. "Yeah, and I've decided I'm down to try it out." She pauses for a second, then continues. "Though I have to say, it's weird to simultaneously feel like all the people going up and confessing to you guys is normal, and also knowing intellectually it's all because of your wish."

"Sorry about that," Annabeth says awkwardly. "We'll try to be more careful, next time?"

Rachel waves her off. "No, I get it, best not to risk the gods finding out and going after you guys." Then, she looks awkwardly at the two of them. "Anyways, so, uh, what are you guys thinking with respect to a relationship?" she asks.

"Well, Annabeth and I talked about it a bit, last night," Percy started. "And she also did some reading?"

Annabeth jumped in. "Yeah, so, Percy mentioned you were bi, and I was wondering if you wanted to try out us dating too, or..."

"Yeah, I actually did some research of my own," Rachel responded. "I like you and all, Annabeth, but I don't really think of you like that? At least for now. Is that a dealbreaker?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I'm totally fine with it." She hadn't really considered it as particularly important when Percy brought it up, but she hadn't seen the harm in asking, either. Really, she was just in this to help Percy fulfill his crush, to make Rachel happy, and maybe try out some of the stuff she was thinking about, if Rachel agreed.

"Oh?" Rachel sounded slightly surprised. "I mean, okay. So... are we dating now?"

"I guess so?" Percy sounded slightly unsure.

"In that case," Rachel said, leaning in towards Percy. "I've wanted to do this for ages." And with that, she kissed him slowly on the lips.

For a moment, Annabeth was surprised. Then, as she realized Percy wasn't kissing back, she spoke up. "You can kiss back, Seaweed Brain, I won't mind." It was odd to realize just how true that was. If anything, it was cute. Percy was doing that little nibble on Rachel's bottom lip that he sometimes did to her, and while it was odd to see it from a third person perspective, she didn't mind it.

To an outside viewer, it might have seemed Percy was entirely engrossed with Rachel. But his hand was still in Annabeth's, holding onto her even as he made out with another girl. After a few seconds or so, though, Rachel broke away, a smile on her face. "That was... nice."

"It was," Percy responded, a tone of happiness in her voice. "Annabeth?"

"It was interesting to see you kissing from an outside perspective," she mused. "But in all seriousness, I didn't mind it at all."

"So, we're dating now, huh? It's weird, I'd kind of written off all of that when I became the Oracle, but it's nice." Then, Rachel's green eyes focused on something in the distance. "People are looking," she said. "Do you guys want us to head down to your usual spot?" she asked.

"In the lake, you mean?" Percy responded, questioningly. "You get dumped in there one time..." Percy shook his head in mock annoyance.

"I mean, we did sneak down there a few other times," Annabeth teased. "But yeah, can you take us down?"

"Your wish is my command," he offered in a sardonic tone, even as the water in front of them parted, and the three of them headed down to talk some more.

It was around an hour later by the time the three of them emerged from the lake once more, all of their hair slightly tousled. Unfortunately, they emerged to a small crowd of other campers.

"So... are all three of you dating now?" One of the younger campers asked.

"Yeah," Percy said, and Rachel and Annabeth mouthed their agreement. Then, as some of the campers seemed ready to say something, a medium sized figure bowled her way through the crowd.

"Clarisse," Percy acknowledged. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." She looked kind of awkward for a second. "I just wanted to say... thank you. Ares might hate you, but you're a good friend," Clarisse said. "And Annabeth's at least a good fighter," she continued quickly. Then, she turned around, and headed away, being careful not to run.

After the three of them had listened to a few more confessions, both romantic and platonic, they beat a hasty retreat to Rachel's cave.

"I have to say, it's really funny watching you guys deal with all the confessions," Rachel mused.

"I really didn't think there'd be this many," Percy complained. "And for a second there, I thought Clarisse was going to confess to me too?"

"Never say never," Annabeth teased. "Maybe she'll get one on you and then confess later."

Percy put on a face of mock alarm. "But seriously, not sure this was the best worded-wish."

"I mean, I'm pretty happy with it," Rachel pointed out. "And if you put a higher bar for confessions, it'd be possible that Bob and Damasen wouldn't be counted, or that a god could be into you but not enough to be restricted by the wish."

"I guess," Percy said. "It just feels awkward turning everyone down, you know?"

"I don't think there'll be any hard feelings there, Percy," Annabeth reassured. "It's not like with Rachel, where, well–"

"Where I already had a pretty serious crush, and besides, you're the only person I could date. Most of them will probably get over you. Nico did, after all."

"Actually, he and Will caught me after sword-fighting class and jointly confessed to both still having a mild crush on me," Percy bemoaned, and Annabeth burst into giggles.

Rachel joined Annabeth in her mirth. "I'm sorry, but it's just really funny to see you realize how many people have crushes on you. I forget, how long did it take you to pick up I had a crush on you?"

"I got it by the end of summer, I think," Percy argued back.

"You mean after I kissed you on the lips?" Rachel pointed out slyly.

"No, I'd figured it out a bit before that, I think."

Annabeth knew she would have felt a mild bit of jealousy, hearing about this kiss before the end of the Titan War, but now, she didn't feel a bit. But that wasn't so bad, was it. "Very impressive, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, a teasing tone in her voice. "Anyways, just to check, I hope you're aware I have a crush on you?"

"Hmm. Not sure. Do you want to give me a kiss to prove it?" Percy shot back, suddenly seeming a bit more in his element.

Annabeth didn't use words to give her response. Instead, she simply pulled him close and landed a kiss on his lips.