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The first night Annabeth puts on her Yankees cap and slips out of the Athena cabin to go to Cabin 3 is the night of Percy’s sixteenth birthday. She’s spent most of the evening with him and they’ve finally admitted their feelings for each other, but it still isn’t enough time.
Percy had proposed it while they were at the bottom of the lake. They hadn’t had much time alone together to really figure things out and they couldn’t stay underwater forever. She was so overjoyed to be safe and home with him, and to know that she was the one he wanted. And as much as she tried to express that to Percy, she couldn’t hide her sadness. And truthfully, he couldn’t either.
“Will you come to my cabin tonight?” he’d asked her. “Not to like do anything. I just… I don’t think I want to be alone.”
“Neither do I,” she’d replied quickly. It was a relief she didn’t even know she wanted. “I’ll go as soon as everyone else is asleep.”
So there she is, creeping across camp in the darkness to see her boyfriend. She knocks on his door lightly to give him a heads up before slipping inside.
When she sees him, her heart almost breaks again. She sees him for what he truly is, a 16 year old boy who is exhausted. Percy’s sitting on the edge of his bed. He seems to have showered and put on a new shirt and pajama pants. His hair is unruly as usual, but his eyes are extraordinarily tired.
He still smiles when she takes off her cap, though.
“I can go back, if you just want to sleep,” she says.
“No,” he responds immediately. “I mean, please stay, if you want.”
She sits down next to him, close enough that their shoulders are touching.
“I’m so tired, but I don’t know if I’ll even be able to sleep,” he admits.
“You’ve been through a lot,” she says quietly.
That’s the understatement of the century. Less than a full day ago, they both thought he was going to die. He’d just fought an entire war. He’d lost so many friends.
He looks at her. “You’ve been through a lot.” His eyes glance down to her shoulder and she winces. Her mind then jumps to Silena and she feels the tears start to prickle behind her eyes. And then she thinks of Luke and she squeezes her eyes shut.
“Okay, we’ve been through a lot,” she says, but it comes out as a croak.
Before she can reach out to him, he’s pulling her into a hug. She buries her face in his shoulder and her fingers cling to his t-shirt. It’s not exactly a comfortable position, but Annabeth doesn’t care.
Percy seems to, though. He scoops her up into his arms and lies down so that he’s flat on his back and she’s curled against his side with his arms around her. It’s the most physical contact they’ve ever had, especially for being alone in a bed together, but Annabeth isn’t thinking about her teenage relationship awkwardness. She’s thinking about everything, or really everyone, they’ve lost.
She starts to shake from her sobs and she can feel his chest shake beneath her. She doesn’t have to look up at his face to know that he’s crying too.
“Percy, I’m so sorry about everything. You didn’t deserve any of that.”
“Neither did you.”
They stop trying to talk after that and it takes some time for them both to calm down, but eventually their breathing evens out and they stop sniffling. Annabeth sits up and looks down at Percy. She wipes his cheeks gently with her thumbs and he catches her wrist in his hand.
“When I was in the river Styx, I was thinking about you. And when the gods asked me if I wanted immortality I couldn't take it because I was thinking about you.”
When he’d brought all that up earlier, Annabeth knew what he was hinting at, but hearing him say it aloud is entirely different. She doesn’t know what to say. I love you doesn’t even seem to cut it.
So she settles for his name, “Percy,” and a long but soft and gentle kiss. When she pulls away, she almost starts crying again, but instead she lets out a long breath. “I’m so happy you’re alive.”
“Me too,” he says, letting out the smallest laugh. “Do you want to stay?”
Annabeth nods and they shift around to get under the covers. She can’t imagine leaving him alone just as much as she can’t imagine going back to her cabin by herself.
They lay beside each other flat on their backs, barely touching at first. She can tell that he doesn’t know what to do. This is uncharted territory for both of them.
He reaches his arm to turn off his light. They’ve slept around each other out of necessity before, but they’ve never shared a bed just to share a bed. Annabeth would feel excited and a little nervous if she wasn’t so dead tired.
She’s never slept flat on her back in her life, so she rolls onto her side. Knowing Percy would never make the first move, she whispers, “Percy, can you hold me?”
A moment later, he’s adjusted himself behind her and placed a tentative arm around her waist. She interlaces their fingers and pulls him closer, so she can feel her back flush against his chest. His breathing kind of tickles the back of her neck, and it’s perfect.
They’re not done grieving and they still have so much to figure out with each other, but for that night at least, Annabeth feels warm and comforted in his arms.