Time After Time

"This is cute, right?" I asked Rachel, her wild red curls bouncing as she turned towards me.

"Percy, you can't chicken out now," she stated simply.

"I'm most likely gonna look like an idiot," I argued. "The least you can do is tell me it's gonna be idiotic in a cute way, and maybe get me laid."

"I don't get why you're so nervous," Rachel said, raising an appraising brow at me. "You did stuff like this for Annabeth all the time."

"This is different." My phone buzzed with a text from Piper.

"Yeah, well I'm assuming your voice won't crack this time," she smirked. "You know unless your balls somehow crept back up into you."

"Hilarious," I deadpanned, making her laugh. "Alright, they just sat down in the lecture hall." I smiled at Piper's second text. "Apparently, my genius boyfriend is already suspicious since Piper insisted on sitting in the front row."

"I'm kinda psyched to meet Mister thirteenth September." I smacked her shoulder.

"You bring that up, and I'm probably not getting laid tonight, so shut up," I hissed.

"I tattooed it onto you, Jackson. That means I'm allowed to talk about it." I rolled my eyes at the ginger.

"Come on, we have ten minutes before their class starts," I said, pulling Rachel down the hall.

"How are you gonna get rid of the professor?"

"I'm not," I smirked.

"You're seriously just gonna interrupt the class?" Rachel giggled.

"It's why I have second rose," I shrugged. "It's an apology."

We came to the door to the lecture hall. I peeked through the glass panel to see that most of the students were already seated, but it wasn't Professor Iris setting up. On the small stage up front was a familiar, short, muscular girl with frizzy white hair, connecting a laptop to the overhead projector.

"We're in luck," I said, grinning back at Rachel before pushing through the doors, ignoring my pounding heart as I bound down the stairs to the podium on the stage. The girl I knew to be the TA, whipped her head up at the sudden movement before fixing me with an amused look.

"O Fleecy," I beamed as I gave her an overexaggerated bow and presented her with a rose. "Do me a solid?" I asked, making the girl laugh as she took the offered flower.

"Since its Valentines day, sure," she said. "You have five minutes."

Rachel had already perched herself on the edge of the stage, strumming a few notes on her guitar. I turned toward the first row of students to be met with wide blue eyes staring at me. Piper was bouncing in her seat next to Jason, already pulling out her phone to record the whole thing.

I put on my signature smirk, making Jason bite his lip, teeth flashing below the tiny scar. I focused on that, on the indentations left on the plump flesh. It somewhat calmed my nerves, reducing the shaking of my hands to a mere tremor, soothing the beast trying to break out of my chest. I heard Rachel play the introductory cords to our rehearsed song, not giving me a chance to think or chicken out. All I could do was plunge into the lyrics of Time after time, hoping I didn't sound too awful. I'd have to thank her for it later.

"Lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you," I sang, slowly walking towards my superman. "Caught up in circles, confusion is nothing new."

Rachel fell in on the next verse, rounding off my voice and making the song sound softer. "Then you say - go slow. I fall behind. The second hand unwinds. If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me, time after time. If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting, time after time." Why did I choose this song? Well, besides the fact that Rachel knew how to play it on her guitar, I wanted to tell Jason that I'll always be there for him. I ignored the heat rising to my ears as I came to stand before Jason, his mouth somehow stuck between gaping and smiling.

"If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me, time after time. If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting, time after time. Yeah, time after time." I held out the second rose to him, and he finally had the mind to clasp a hand over his indecisive mouth as Piper turned her camera on him. He took the rose, looking down and refusing to make eye contact. I couldn't have that, so I hooked a finger under his chin and lifted so I could see his dazzling blue eyes. "Sometimes you picture me, I'm walking too far ahead. You're calling to me, I can't hear what you've said."

I cupped his cheek and slowly pulled him to his feet. "Then you say - go slow. I fall behind. The second hand unwinds. If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me, time after time. If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting, time after time. If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me, time after time. If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting, time after time. Yeah, time after time, time after time." I pulled him into a quick kiss over the table, keeping the PDA minimum.

"Happy Valentines," I smirked as he bloomed into a crimson blush.

"You're crazy," he mumbled, fighting the smile tugging at his lips.

Fleecy cleared her throat from behind me. "Right, time's up, Perce," she said.

"See you tonight," I winked, and Jason nodded. That sent the students within earshot into an uproar of wolf whistles and jeers, which in turn made Jason drop back into his seat, slumping down, trying to hideaway. He was genuinely too cute when he was embarrassed.

"I'm Rachel, by the way," the redhead jumped in, extending her hand to him. "The artist who salvaged that horrendous anchor on his shoulder." I rolled my eyes at the girl.

"Jason," he said, taking her hand.

"Oh, I prefer mister-" I clamped a hand over her mouth before she could finish her sentence, pulling her out of the lecture hall. Jason stared after us with a slight frown of confusion.

"Thanks, Fleecy," I called over my shoulder before slipping out the door.

"Rude," Rachel shrugged me off once we were in the hallway. "So you knew the professor?"

"She's the TA," I corrected. "And yeah, she used to work at the health shop with Grover and Juniper in high school, before the two of them joined the Peace Corps."

She nodded her understanding as we walked toward the building's exit. "You sounded terrific, by the way," she turned to me with a rare, genuinely soft smile.

"Yeah, well I had a good vocal coach," I smirked, and Rachel lifted her chin in pride.

"Well, if you ever decide to make use of your talents, let me know," she said. "The band could use a male voice for some harmonisation," she shrugged.

"What about Lester?"

"He thinks he can sing," she scrunched up her nose in disgust. "And I guess he can, but we just don't compliment each other that well."

"Not to mention that he can't be a frontman with a surname like Papadopoulos," I joked, and Rachel snorted.

"Yeah, he's trying out a new stage name," she said, trying not to laugh.

"What is it?"

"Apollo," she answered, and I froze.

"Oh, gods, no."

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes. "Lester reasons that his talents are godly, so he should be named after one."

"He's a strange one," I shook my head as we continued to walk toward her car.

"Still a damn good lead guitarist, though," she shrugged. "You think about your next tattoo anymore?"

"Yeah, well, I really wanna know what I want before I bring it up to Jason."

"You need permission or something?" she snickered.

"No," I huffed. "Jason would never tell me what to do, but I do value his opinion."

"You were thinking jellyfish, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Across my thigh, maybe."

"You're far from spineless, though," she raised a questioning brow. "Also, you're not peaceful, calm or go with the flow either. Why do you want a jellyfish?"

"You're a fucking tattoo artist, Rach," I rolled my eyes at the ginger. "You of all people should know that's far from the only symbolisation of a jellyfish."

"So what does the jellyfish mean to you?" she asked gently.

"Since the dawn of time, jellyfish hadn't changed much, right?"

"Right," she nodded.

"They are sea creatures that were and will be here long after the human race is gone. So to me, they represent someone who is in it for the long haul, who adapts to their surroundings and will fight for as long as it takes to survive."

"Okay, yeah," she shrugged. "That's more like you. And I guess the long haul refers to Mister September."

"Stop calling him that!" I groaned. "You're making him sound like a damn centrefold, Red."

"I just saw him, and to be fair, he definitely could be," she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

We came to a stop at her jeep, and she hauled her guitar into the back, tucking it safely into the case. "It's was nice to play acoustic guitar again, just a bit. I almost forgot that the nylon strings hurt so much less."

"You're badass on bass, though," I smirked, and she beamed with pride.

"Of course, I am. It's a shame you never learned to play, though." She stared wistfully at my hands.

"I was too busy doing other things, I guess," I shrugged, non-committedly.

"You have a musician's hands, though, no doubt. It's a waste, really." I bit my lip, keeping my thoughts to myself. "Oh, I see you, spit it out. Looks like whatever you have to say is gonna be funny."

"I use my hands just fine," I smirked suggestively, and she playfully slapped my shoulder. "I just play a totally different instrument, but the sounds are still amazing."

"Shut up! I am an impressionable virgin," she gawked in mock outrage, barely hiding her own grin.

"I've read your stories, Red," I challenged. "You might be a virgin, but your mind sure as hell ain't."

She rolled her eyes at me. "Whatever, don't you need to get to class or some shit?"

"Nah," I waved her off. "Will and Nico are covering my classes for me today."

"So, what are you doing for the rest of the day?"

"Jason insisted on being in charge of dinner, but I'm handling dessert, so I'm gonna bake some brownies."

"Brownies?" her eyes lit up. "As in-"

"No, not Grover's recipe," I cut her off.

"So just plain, boring brownies," she sighed, her shoulders slumping, "why brownies? I'm sure there are more romantic desserts out there."

"Brownies are Jason's favourite," I shrugged and her eyes softened. "Or at least, his nanny used to bake him brownies for special occasions. You see, his dad was very strict on his diet, and he wasn't allowed many sweets, so he got overly picky when choosing desserts because they had to be fucking worth it. He told me that, given a choice, he'd always pick the brownies, because they didn't taste like any store-bought brownies. They were always his safe bet."

"Oh, look at you, being all sweet," Rachel coed. "I've tasted your baking, though, and store-bought might be a better option."

"I have backups in the cupboard," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck. "But Thalia helped me get the recipe from their old nanny, Lupa, so I'm gonna at least try."

"You're so fucking sweet!" she squealed. "Anyway, let me know how they turn out," she said, hopping into her Jeep.

"I will," I said, closing the door behind her. She rolled down her window as the engine roared to life. "Thanks for your help, today."

"No sweat. See you, Perce."