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“Give up, half-blood.”
“You’re not strong enough to save her.”
“...Percy, why did you leave me?”
Deep inhale.
Followed by shaky breaths.
Whose hand is this?
“Percy, it’s me.”
Percy moved his gaze up from his hand which grasped the wrist of another.
“Annabeth?” he asked out of breath.
“It’s okay. Straighten up a little, you need to calm your breathing.” He did what she asked but it didn’t really help much. His eyes were still blown and blood-shot which terrified Annabeth. He kept searching her face as if to determine if she was real or not.
“An – Annabeth?”
She gently pulled her hand away from his grasp to place it on his cheek, feeling a single tear from the corner of his eye.
“Shh. Don’t talk baby, we need to calm your breathing. Just focus on how I breathe and try to copy it, okay?” She demonstrated deep inhales and exhales for Percy to follow. He tried to do the same, he really did. But the images from his terrible nightmare were still burned in his mind.
“Come on Percy, you can do it. Don’t give up on me, now.”
That just broke him more. Pained whimpers escaped Percy’s mouth as he frantically grabbed a tight hold on Annabeth’s wrist once again.
Annabeth stared back at his eyes worryingly. She loved that sea-green, and the color was in the forefront even more right now, but at the cost of Percy hurting. And that hurt her. She took his face in both her hands and leaned in to press her lips against his, hoping that he would at least hold his breath until Annabeth broke the kiss, thus resetting it in a way.
Not as much as she hoped, but it still seemed to help as he started to take slower breaths with his eyes closed.
“Did I – is Estelle?” he attempted to ask, and Annabeth answered quickly in order to save him from the trouble. “No, you didn’t wake her. Everyone’s still asleep.” Percy kept his eyes closed and his hand on hers as he worked on his breath a bit more.
“Come here,” Annabeth said and led him between her legs for him to lay down on top of her. He tried not to let his weight crush her and rested his head in the crook of her neck, drinking in her familiar scent in order to remind himself that she is alive. Annabeth whispered words of comfort to his ear, hoping to make him feel better. He stayed silent, not letting out one sound. She had one hand delved in his now slightly sweaty hair, massaging his scalp and her other hand was placed on his shoulder blades. They were tense and they felt wound-up under Annabeth’s touch. She moved that hand to his jaw, making him look up, and found out that his jaw was just as tense and set in place.
“Who are you holding back from, Percy?” she asked looking at him.
“…What?”
“I’m the last person you should keep your feelings locked and hidden away from, so why are you keeping me outside at bay?”
Percy wavered in his attempt to answer her question.
“I – I don’t…” Annabeth didn’t really wait for an answer anyway.
“It’s okay. It’s okay to let it out. I’m here for whatever you need… So, you can let it all out and let me in.”
She lowered her forehead onto his and waited for any kind of response. Percy’s face wrapped itself up in agony again as it moved side to side before being buried in the crook of her neck once more. Wounded sobs which shook his body were imprinted on Annabeth’s skin. They both held on tight to each other. Annabeth could tell he was still kind of trying to keep the sounds he let out as low as possible. He didn’t keep them in, at least. It was nearly four in the morning, so she understood where he was coming from. As much as it pained Annabeth to see Percy like this as well, it would be more devastating for Sally if she were to wake up and see his son crying his eyes out.
Annabeth calmly waited for him as she tried to comfort him with her touch and occasional kisses on his head. When the sobs ceased and his warm breath against her slowed down, she asked, “Do you feel like you can talk about it, now?” She felt his head move up and down in confirmation, so she pulled away slightly to examine him. His face was wet with tears and his eyes did not dare to reveal themselves just yet. Annabeth brushed away the tears with her thumb and gently kissed his closed eyelids. He opened his mouth to tell her the nightmare with a weak voice, unlike his usual deep and confident one.
“I couldn’t protect you. We were in there and I couldn’t get to you fast enough. I saw all the monsters we ever saw down there. They were suffocating me while you were blindly trying to reach me surrounded by the arai. They said I wasn’t strong enough to beat them, to get to you, so I – I fought… I fought and killed them all.” His voice quivered.
“But I wasn’t – it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t fast enough. The arai got to you before me, and… And before they took you away… you said, ‘You left me like everyone else.’ And I just…” A rogue tear flowed down one of his cheeks again as he opened his eyes. They looked tortured as they stared back into Annabeth’s.
“Annabeth, believe me, I would never do that to you. I am never going to leave you like them, like everyone else… I love you. I won’t let you feel like you’re lonely or lost ever again.”
It felt like someone clutched at her heart and was refusing to let go.
With tears of her own threatening to escape, Annabeth interrupted him:
“I didn’t fall in love with you because I was lonely or lost, Percy. I fell in love with you because I realized you were the only person who I had ever wanted to make a permanent part of my life.” Percy hugged her close after hearing her words, trying to tell her that he appreciates her trust in him and he won’t betray that trust. Annabeth continued:
“The nightmares still have the same goal: getting in our heads. Don’t let them get to you. I know you always have my back. And I have yours. That’s why I want you to be open with me about this stuff. You can talk to me, cry to me or do both; I just want to make you feel better… and safe.”
They stayed interlocked for a few moments more before Percy spoke.
“I’m sorry I woke you up. I know you needed the sleep.”
“We both need it. Do you feel like going back to it yet?”
“…Yeah, okay.”
They maneuvered themselves to find a comfortable position in Percy’s not-so-large bed. Annabeth wrapped him in a spoon and Percy entwined their hands. He raised their locked hands for a moment to place a quick kiss on hers.
“I love you,” Annabeth whispered to his shoulder blades.
“I love you too,” said Percy. He tightened his hold on her hand. “Don’t let go, okay?”
“Never.”