Chapter Text
The Thursday before the first three-day-weekend of the semester finally arrived, and Percy could hardly sit still in class. By the time he made it to Paul – no, Mr. Blofis’s class he was all but checked out. It was the last class of the day and they were just finishing discussions on The Great Gatsby. Percy couldn’t bring himself to focus.
By the time the final bell rang, he picked up his belongings, he went up to Paul’s desk, “You or mom need anything before I leave?”
Paul looked up and smiled, “Just have a nice weekend. Don’t be stupid. Call your mom when you get there.”
“Don’t worry, I can promise on the calling and having a nice weekend. But let’s face it, me not be stupid? When does that happen?” Percy joked.
Shaking his head Paul simply added, “At least try – for your mom’s sake. And don’t go and get yourself beat up again. You know mom hates it when you do that.”
Percy sighed, “It’s not like I go around asking for it. Besides, that hasn’t happened in weeks!” He shrugged as he opened the door, “See you Sunday Mr. B!” He stopped at his locker to pick up his math textbook and all but ran to his car. His gym bag was already packed in his backseat and his car tank was full of gas. He sent two messages, one to his mom, letting her know he would see her Sunday and that he loved her. The other to Annabeth, letting her know he would see her in three hours – again adding on that he loved her.
He didn’t stop smiling for the three-hour trip.
;;
Percy parked in the lot in front of her dorm, and got out his phone to call Annabeth. As he opened her contact on his phone, he noticed that she was already sitting outside waiting for him, sitting on the steps in front of the entrance with her nose in a book. Percy crossed the street as she looked up.
He was almost afraid he wasn’t going to make it across the street because when she looked at him, his heart stopped for a moment. He swore that her smile could brighten up a hurricane just then. He ran the rest of the way across the street. As she got up he embraced her and kissed her forehead. Annabeth kissed his cheek before he looked down and kissed her lips. “Gods I missed you,” she was the first to speak. She climbed out of the hug and picked up her book, one hand still laced within Percy’s.
“I missed you too wise girl,” Percy smiled.
As she unlocked the front door she asked, “You hungry? Some of my friends were talking about this burger place in my Architecture lecture this week.”
Percy looked at her; giving her the sassiest look she had ever seen him give, “Who do you think you’re talking to?” He laughed, “Burgers sound fantastic.”
Annabeth laughed as they caught the stairs to their room, “Alright I’ll look up the directions and get some stuff together when we get up to my room.”
They exited the stairwell as Annabeth waved to three people sitting in their floor lobby. Percy smiled in their direction, trying to seem friendly.
This would be his first time in her dorm since he helped her move in and he wanted to make a good impression. They walked down the hall, Annabeth waved to a girl in the room across for hers with her door open before she unlocked her own. “Make yourself at home, I’ll boot up my computer and pull up directions.”
Percy followed her inside. Glancing around he noted that it hardly looked like the same place he helped move her into. There were clothes and stray papers all around the floor, and for the most part Percy couldn’t tell the divide between Annabeth and Clarisse’s sides of the room. Percy set his gym bag next to Annabeth’s bed on the floor and promptly laying on top of them while playing a game on his phone. “It looks like we’re just down the roa-“ the door opening interrupted her sentence, causing Annabeth to jump.
Clarisse walked into the room, tossing her bag onto her bed, “Gym was quiet today – you missed a good workout, Annabeth.” She glanced up, “Hey there, Percy.”
Percy raised a hand, “Yo!”
Annabeth turned in her chair, “Damn, I always miss the good days.” Percy turned up an eyebrow; “We usually go to the gym on Thursdays.”
Percy nodded and mouthed a ‘gotcha’ in response. “How did the workout go though?”
Clarisse shrugged, “Eh, pretty well. Did the usual. Ran a bit, lifted a bit. You should have seen the looks on the guys’ faces when I benched more wow they were so pissed!”
“You sound proud of yourself,” Annabeth turned back to her computer, “Though not at all surprised about you benching more.”
Clarisse smiled, chuckling a bit at Annabeth’s comment. “Stupid mortals, thinking they have a chance to out-bench Clarisse La Rue. Even I’m not stupid enough to try that.” The girls turned to Percy as he threw up his arms and spoke.
Clarisse walked by her bed and picked up caddy of shampoo, “I’m going to go cool off.” She picked up the towel off the end of her bed and opened the door. Before stepping out she turned towards the two still inside, “By the way, don’t worry. I’ll be staying at Chris’s dorm this weekend. Knowing you guys, you all will probably be gone by the time I’m out of the shower so I’ll see you Sunday I guess. Unless you want to meet up sooner, that’s cool too.” Clarisse looked at Annabeth as she finished, “I know we mentioned having a movie night since Chris got that new TV, but I’ll let you guys choose. Just call or whatever, I really don’t care.” She waved them off as she shut the door.
“Movie night?” Percy asked, tilting his head in confusion.
Annabeth nodded, “Chris’s mom sent him one shortly after the semester started. The cable TV here pretty much sucks but we can rent some movies from the dorm lobbies and he has a bunch in his collection.”
Percy looked at her, “Depending on what he has, I’ll have to remember to bring a few movies next time then!”
Annabeth rolled her eyes getting up from her desk chair, “Alright do whatever you want. I have the directions pulled up if you want to look.”
Percy got up from the bed and sat in front of her computer, memorizing the map while she put together her purse and pulled a jacket from her closet. He felt her arms wrap around his neck, wrapping him in a hug. He kissed her cheek as she asked, “Ready to go?”
Percy grabbed his keys from the desk, “Course I am! We are one fifteen-minute-drive away from burgers! At least that is what the current traffic feature is pulling up.”
Annabeth shook her head as the headed out the door, making sure not to lock it so Clarisse didn’t get locked out in her towel.
They raced down the stairs and through the parking lot, tying with each other as they sat in Percy’s car simultaneously. They celebrated each other’s victory with a short kiss while Percy started up his car. He plugged in his iPod into the speaker system, continuing his playlist from the drive up. Percy smiled as he and Annabeth started singing along to the playlist. This was something he needed to remember – Imagine Dragons, Beyonce, and Ke$ha could do no wrong on a travel playlist.
He had almost missed the turn in to the restaurant when “Die Young” started playing. He parked in front of the restaurant and shut off the car.
Annabeth watched him disapprovingly as he opened the door, causing the playlist to stop. “What? Did you really want to sit out here and not eat?” He asked as he deposited his iPod into his pocket.
Annabeth bit her lip as she thought for a moment, “Yes!”
Percy shook his head, walking around to the other side, opening her door, “Come onnnnn, it’s no fun without you,” he pouted. Annabeth promptly rolled her eyes as she got out of the car.
They walked into the building and ordered their burgers. They found a table near the front of the restaurant. Percy looked around and could tell it was a college favorite. Maybe it was the fact that the only patrons appeared to be in their late teens to early twenties, or the fact that textbooks and notebooks were sprawled out on most of the tables. One table was constructing a building out of foam core. One of the girls at that table waved at Annabeth. “She’s in my Architecture lab,” Annabeth took a breath, “I have to build one of those this weekend too. I tried to get my group to meet yesterday but they all had to work.”
Percy waved his arms frantically, “No, no, don’t worry about it. I have a report I have to type up for Paul’s class anyways. We can work together.” Percy shrugged, “Besides if I get too bored I can crash Chris’s party. Apparently he doesn’t have class on Fridays so I might anyways.”
Annabeth got up as they called their order, “Just don’t be stupid.”
Percy followed her, “Well there’s no preventing that now is there?”
Annabeth shook her head, handing him the tray with their burgers, “Oh you know what I mean.”
They made their way back to the table, “How’s your mom doing by the way?”
Percy’s face lit up. Much unlike last time he found out he had, well was going to have, a half sibling, he was beyond excited. “Oh, she’s doing pretty well, as far as I know at least. I haven’t seen her as much as usual cause she’s either sleeping or trying to get this book published so she’s keeping busy but as far as she tells me she likes it.” He took a bite into her burger, “I can see why your friends recommended this place,” he commented as he lifted his burger.
Annabeth nodded in agreement, “Seriously! I can’t believe it took me this long to go to this place!”
“You’ve only been here for a month and a half, wise girl,” Percy laughed to himself.
Annabeth glared at him, “Doesn’t mean anything.” She took another bite into her burger. “So were you just planning on going to Chris’s tomorrow while I’m in class?”
Percy shrugged as he put his half-of-a-burger on his tray. “Not really sure. I’ll shoot him an email when we get back to your dorm. If anything I can just trash your dorm and throw a mad party. That will get all your floor-mates to like me.”
“Yeah, of course. They’ll love you for throwing a party in the middle of the afternoon,” Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Most of everyone will either sleeping or studying so that’s really not a good idea.” She shook her head as she took the last bite of her burger.
Percy pouted, “Aw, come on. You ruin all my fun.” He stuck fries in his mouth.
Annabeth laughed, waving three fries in his face, “Oh whatever, it’s not like you don’t have homework you need to anyway.” She stuck the fries in her mouth
“Don’t remind me.” Percy complained, “Luckily all I have is to study Frankenstein for Paul’s class, but you can’t make me do math.”
Annabeth raised an eyebrow, “Wanna bet?”
Percy looked at the last of his fries, picking three up, “What are my chances, slim to none?” Annabeth nodded. “Not gonna risk it.”
She raised her restaurant cup towards him, “Smart move, Jackson.”
He spread his arms outward, as if he were very, very proud of himself, “I try,” he laughed.
They finished their fries and left the establishment soon after, Annabeth shaking her head at the very thought of a ‘mid-afternoon party in her room’. “Besides,” she started, bringing up the subject a last time, “Clarisse would have a cow if she found out I, or you for that matter, threw a party in our room without her.”
Percy nudged Annabeth’s shoulder, “And is this counting the party we’re having tonight, cause I’d prefer that be a guest list of two.” Raising an eyebrow, he wagged his finger between the two of them, as if explaining whom the guest list entailed.
Annabeth nudged his shoulder in retaliation, “Oh you’re smooth.”
He unlocked the car, “I try,” I succeed, he thought as he climbed into the drivers seat.
;;
When they finally made it back into Annabeth’s dorm room, it didn’t take long at all for the two of them to get ready for bed. Percy was exhausted from the trip, even if it was only three hours by car, and Annabeth had the sole motivation of needing to wake up early for class the next morning. Percy was making fun of her for going to bed at ten. Joking that ‘only nerds go to bed that early,’ even though he was minutes away from crashing himself.
Percy was more than excited that Annabeth’s dorm was equipped with a sink. He didn’t think he could deal with college guy taunting. He got it enough from his friends at school, poking fun at the fact that he was going to spend the weekend with his college girlfriend. Percy also has to face the fact that he could be in college right now as well if it weren’t for a certain goddess who just had to have her way and force him to lose his memory for a semester.
He tried to remove those thoughts as easily as he removed the toothpaste from his mouth and into the sink. He stood there with the sink running for a few moments, just staring when Annabeth interrupted his thoughts, “Yeah, it’s really not that impressive. It reminds me of the sinks you’d find on an airplane.”
Percy turned around and walked towards his bag, digging for his pajamas, “As if I would know about that.”
“Touché,” she added, pointing at him with her toothbrush. Percy glanced over, making sure Annabeth was turned the other way before taking his jeans off and sliding into his pajama pants. She was rinsing her mouth as Percy slid his t-shirt over his head. She smirked through the mirror, “Still don’t wear a shirt?”
He shrugged, “Still not cold enough.”
“Whatever,” she laughed, pulling a sweatshirt from a drawer and slipping it on while sliding off her jeans. She hurried to jump into bed, “Get the lights, will ya?”
He rolled his eyes, “Sure thing, Princess,” flipping the lights without argument. Annabeth was setting the alarm on her phone when Percy turned towards her bed.
As his head hit the pillow, he heard her mumble something along the lines of “Good night seaweed brain.”
He barely got out a simple, “Good night,” before he was asleep.
;;
Annabeth’s alarm was far beyond obnoxious. Percy didn’t think he could possibly hate a sound so much, but he swore if he heard one more rooster, he would throw her phone across the room. It honestly surprised him when she didn’t wake up the first time. He shook her a little bit, “Hey, wake up, you’re alarms blaring, turn it off.”
She simply smacked his face, “Five more minutes.”
“No five more minutes, turn off the bird.”
“No sleep.” She smacked his face again.
He looked at her phone and checked the ‘Snooze’ option, rolling his eyes. He made the realization that he wasn’t going back to sleep, so he lay next to her and played with her golden princess curls. He swore they were even prettier now than they have been previous – totally messy, perfectly imperfect, curling perfectly around his fingers, and with the right amount of the morning light hitting from the window.
He jumped when the snoozed alarm went off at the same time the stationary alarm clock began blaring. Annabeth sat up so fast that Percy was afraid he was going to lose his finger that was in her hair. “What time is it?”
“8:15. Good morning to you too.” Percy stuffed his face back into the pillow. Annabeth ran out of bed, practically throwing off her clothes before she got onto the floor, the sweatshirt landing right on Percy’s face. He heard her rummaging through her drawers, pulling on the first thing she saw. “Fire up my laptop, will ya?”
Percy rolled his eyes as he sat up, “Sure thing, wise girl.” Annabeth was running wildly around the room, throwing on a pair of her favorite jeans as Percy opened her laptop and fired it up.
“Open up my Fall Semester folder on my desktop,” Annabeth shouted as she covered her toothbrush with a little too much toothpaste.
Percy met her eyes through the mirror, “I have to wait for it to start up first,” he finished as the password window popped up. He typed in her way too long password code and got onto her desktop to the right folder, “Where to now?”
She spit the paste into the sink, “Architecture 211.” Percy nodded, “Syllabus and scroll to today.” She leaned over Percy’s shoulder as he scrolled through the schedule, mumbling the requirements of the day’s lecture. Quickly skimming over the information, she shut the laptop and grabbed a textbook from under her desk, shoving them into her backpack. “Wifi password is in the top drawer.” She slung her backpack over her shoulder, “Don’t forget to work on Paul’s homework!” she scolded.
Percy rolled his eyes, “You’re not my mom,” he finished his tease by sticking out his tongue. “Hey, don’t worry about me. You get to class or else you’re going to miss your front row seat.”
Annabeth perked up, apparently Percy was completely right about that last remark, “Oh gods I have to leave right now! I love you!” She made her final temporary farwell before running out the door. The clock just barely read 8:30. Percy figured it was early enough to try and get some more sleep, no matter how much is body protested.
;;
The next time he opened his eyes, Annabeth was back from class, typing away on her laptop, “Morning sunshine,” she deadpanned, not looking up from the document.
“What time is it anyway?” he sat up sleepily, rubbing his eyes while questioning his girlfriend.
“Seven P.M.” Annabeth’s eyes didn’t move from her computer.
He jumped out of bed, “What? Shit I’m sorry I didn’t mean to sleep that la-“
“Relax,” she cut him off. “It’s only 10:45. I’m just finishing up some homework before I head off to another class alright?”
Percy, frustrated, walked over to the sink, picking up his toothbrush. “Still a nasty trick you played.”
Annabeth scoffed, “Oh please, you needed to get out of bed anyways. If anything I was doing you a favor.”
Percy flung his feet over the edge of the bed, “Okay fine, maybe I did. What are you going to do about it?” Before he could finish she threw a towel into his face.
“Just go shower. You stink. It’s at the other end of the hall.” She answered.
He scoffed, digging through his bag for his spare jeans and shirt and shower bag before leaving the room in a tired silence.