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Annabeth should have seen this coming. In hindsight, she and Percy had not been doing well for a while now. Ever since returning from Tartarus and the end of the Giant war, things had been tense between them, to say the least. As the days since the battle ended increased, the adrenaline rushing through both of their bodies decreased. They felt the effects, and they felt them hard.
The first time that they fought, they hadn’t even had a chance to leave Camp yet. Technically, it couldn’t be classified as a fight, but this was the first crack in the steadily forming abyss between them.
Annabeth had spent multiple nights up late producing a simple plan to keep them organized and finish the school year strong. They had plans to attend New Rome University in the fall and to do that they needed to finish their senior year of high school. Annabeth was studying at a boarding school in Boston while Percy was attending the school that his step-dad, Paul, worked at.
Despite going to different schools, Annabeth had taken the time to print the calendars of both of their schools and mark major deadlines to ensure that they passed the year with flying colors. Their legacy status could only do so much with their admission to the college, and Annabeth knew that they both wanted to properly earn their spot-- not just have it handed to them. At least, that’s what she thought.
Annabeth walked into the Poseidon cabin on their last day of Camp with a thick stack of papers for Percy in hand, summer homework and plans for the year laid out in a manner that would not be overwhelming yet was enough to keep them on track. All of the notes she had made for Percy were written in blue pen and marker, both because blue ink was supposed to help you remember things and because it was his favorite color so she hoped it served as a motivator.
When she strolled into the cabin and dropped the papers onto his bed, she was met with a defiant groan. “Annabeth, do we really need to do summer homework? We just saved the world, the least they can do is cut us a break.” Percy put his pillow over his face with another groan, but Annabeth was quick to notice the dark circles under his eyes. She knew that Percy suffered from nightmares since returning from Tartarus, much like she did, and that having a cabin to yourself probably doesn’t help with the pain and loneliness at night.
“It’s not that bad, Percy. I went and organized it all for you, just look over it and do a bit a day. It shouldn’t take you long,” she reasoned with him, taking a seat on the foot of his bed and placing a hand on his arm. Percy tore his arm back instantly before bolting up with wide eyes. A hurt expression fell over Annabeth’s face as she retreated her hand from where it was now hovering. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Just didn’t sleep well. I’m gonna go make sure I have everything ready to go. Thanks for the papers, I guess.” Percy stood up and walked towards his bags without a second glance at Annabeth. Getting the message loud and clear, she stood and made her exit, bidding a quiet goodbye.
Annabeth wiped the tears from her eyes, she knew that she was overreacting to this. She did nothing wrong and neither did Percy, they just both hadn’t been sleeping well and it was catching up to them. Life at Camp was calming down which meant more time to dwell on what they had been through. If Percy was going through a rough patch and needed alone time then that was okay, she just wished he would be straightforward with her.
The second time that they fought, this one more aptly called an argument, had been in one of their weekly Skype calls. Before leaving Camp, they both managed to get a prototype from the Hephaestus cabin that allowed them to use technology without alerting every monster within a twenty mile radius to their presence. Percy called Annabeth, as usual, and instantly went into an animated explanation about how school had been going so far, including making the school swim team and befriending his teammates. Plus, this was the first year that he didn't need to worry about monsters attacking or burning down his school so according to him, this was a nice change of pace. Annabeth however, wasn’t as excited at the news as he seemingly expected.
She had been tense since the chat began, the lack of sleep catching up to her as her stress increased, and as she looked at her own image on the screen she saw how apparent her strained disposition was. “Percy, now really isn’t the time to be goofing off. You really need to focus on school if you want to go to college in the fall. Do you even know what you want to study?”
“I dunno, but I’ll figure it out. And what do you mean I need to focus on school? I’ve followed your stupid schedule to a tee, Annabeth. What more do you want?” He ran his hands through his hair as he sighed, his words making Annabeth further tense up.
“ Stupid ? Gods, Percy, sorry that I was trying to help you! Why don’t you ask one of your dumb swim team members to help you if you don’t care that much.” She threw her hands in the air at the end of her sentence, sending her pencil flying out behind her.
“If you didn’t want to talk this week you could have just said so,” Percy deadpanned, eyes looking at something not in frame. “Annabeth, have you been able to sleep at all recently?”
Annabeth let out a deep exhale and deflated back in her chair as Percy’s eyes made their way back to the computer screen. “I’m fine , Percy. I need to go, I’ll talk to you later,” she gritted her teeth as she mumbled out the words and shut her laptop screen, effectively ending the call.
Things between Annabeth and Percy calmed down as the weeks went on and as they neared holiday breaks. Annabeth had plans to visit New York for Thanksgiving before going to see her dad and she was ecstatic to be reunited in-person.
Annabeth’s flight was short, so when she crossed the threshold of security and spotted Percy, she sprinted the distance between them, nearly tackling him to the ground. “Gods of Olympus, I have missed you, Percy. I am so sorry for everything,” she muttered into his neck, wrapping her arms tighter around him.
“I’m sorry too, Annabeth. You are crushing your gifts though,” Percy breathed out as he wriggled his arms in an attempt to free them from where they were trapped in between their bodies. Annabeth pulled away and gasped at the objects in his hand. The flowers were a mix of species in varying shades of blue and grey, but the most prominent were few sea-green lotus flowers mixed in. The dog stuffed animal was simple and resembled Mrs. O’Leary, playing into her soft spot for dogs. “I had to call in a couple favors back at Camp for the flowers. Katie wasn’t too pleased to be growing Lotus flowers, something about them being out of season.”
Annabeth let out a laugh, watching the way Percy’s body visibly relaxed at the sound. They were going to be okay. Pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth Percy grabbed her hand and began leading her to the car.
She was staying with the Jackson-Blofis family for two days before heading off to San Francisco, and with the old guest room turned into Estelle’s soon-to-be nursery she was left staying in Percy’s room. Sally and Paul passed a few jokes at this, but Annabeth wanted nothing more than to just enjoy her boyfriend’s presence and attempt to patch up the cracks in the ravine between them. The gap only widened since that first moment at Camp so many months ago, and she was determined to rectify the mistakes they made.
Things were going well, although she knew that this was only a temporary fix. The smiles that Percy offered her were dimmer than usual and he seemed to walk on eggshells around her at times, signs that he understood it was only a temporary fix as well. All they were doing was placing Band-Aids on gaping wounds that were actively bleeding out, serving only to delay the inevitable collapse. On the first night, Annabeth fought to stay awake for hours out of fear of nightmares. Eventually, exhaustion crept up on her, and she fell into a deep slumber. Her sleep was calm and free of nightmares, the warmth and presence of the other human serving as a grounding tool.
The second night, however, she was not so lucky. She was the most well-rested she had been in months but found that sharing space was harder than she remembered. Annabeth had always kept her things in her cabin while Percy kept his things in his, the closest they got to overlap being on the Argo II. But even there they had their own rooms. Sharing a room with Percy was different than what she was used to as he was a lot messier than she was. However, after a few fumbles and snappy words they made it through and relaxed. It wasn’t enough to cause any strain between them, but enough to seemingly set off her nightmares that night.
Her brain seemed to feed off the slightest negative energy when it came to the nightmares-- the smallest things able to set her off. After a couple of hours of fitful sleep she bolted up, or as much as she could with Percy’s arms wrapped tightly around her waist, and took in her surroundings while trying to steady her breathing. The nightmare had been so brutal, so realistic. She had been back in Tartarus and watched Percy die multiple times, each one similar to a near death experience they actually encountered. “Percy,” she whimpered, reaching out to make sure that he was okay.
The dark-haired boy woke up instantly at Annabeth’s plea for him. “‘Beth? What’s wrong? You okay?” he sleepily mumbled, placing his hands over Annabeth’s smaller ones. She let out a sniffle and let him sit up, wrapping her in his arms. “Shh, it’s okay- you’re alright, I’m here, I promise.” He mumbled calming words of affirmation sleepily into the top of her head while rubbing circles on her back.
“Y-you, I watched you die, Percy,” she choked out before letting out another silent sob and burying her face in his chest. “It was so real and I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do; I’m so sorry.” She tightened her grip on his shirt and felt her tears soak his shirt, but allowed herself to let all of her emotions out. She knew that it was better to deal with everything head on rather than bottle them up and pretend they’re not there.
“Shh, it’s alright. I’m okay. Nothing happened to me and you did nothing wrong. Just try and calm down, breathe in and breathe out just like that.” After fifteen minutes of this same pattern, Annabeth felt her body relax into him and her eyes began to shut. She felt Percy gently lower them both down into a reclining position, and felt him tighten his hold on her waist. “Night, ‘Beth,” Percy whispered in her ear, the last words she heard before drifting back into unconsciousness.
A little under two hours later, Annabeth awoke with a startle from a dream that was already slipping from her mind. It wasn’t a nightmare, but it left her restless and fidgety. Percy’s grip on her had loosened as he lightly tossed and turned in his sleep, allowing Annabeth to quietly slip out of the bed. Pacing around the room, she made her way to the window overlooking the fire escape. Quietly cracking open the window, she let herself slip into the gentle night air.
The moonlight reflected off the rusted iron of the stairs and created a shimmery picture. The cold November air hit her face, sending shivers down her spine and cold to her core. She pulled the material of Percy’s sweatshirt over her hands, wrapping her arms around her torso. The moon and the stars shined bright above her, casting a glow around her sweat clad figure. Taking a deep breath, she took in the calmness that came with New York City at night, the faint whir of traffic faintly heard below.
Sitting outside allowed Annabeth to appreciate the city she had spent so many years in, the familiar blinking of lights surrounding her helping ground her to the mortal plane. Letting out a sigh she felt herself get lost in thought and wonder how she wound up here. Her reminiscing was short lived however by the stifled sound of clambering coming from inside Percy’s room. Gathering herself together, she slowly opened the window and stepped back into the dark room.
Which is how she found herself with Riptide inches from her throat. “Percy, what are you doing? Put that down,” she hissed, instinctively moving one hand to where her dagger would be. She lost her dagger over a year ago but still found herself reaching out for it. Percy let out a loud sigh before putting the cap on Riptide and moving forward to envelop Annabeth in a hug. His arms found their ways around her neck and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Annabeth wrapped her arms hesitantly wrapped around his middle, rubbing at his back like he had done earlier to her. “Nightmare?”
Percy let out a whimper and then a nod which had her giving him a light squeeze. They just stood there, in the middle of Percy’s room, for a couple of minutes in silence, taking in each other’s presence. Annabeth began to try and untangle herself from her boyfriend but at her movement Percy only tightened his hold on her.
“C’mon, Percy. Let’s at least go lay down. I’m not going anywhere.” Percy allowed her to lead them back to the bed and lay down and she took on the role as the big spoon. She placed her head in the crook of Percy’s neck and whispered reassurances to him while threading their fingers together. “Do you wanna talk about it?”
Percy gave a curt nod of his head, a single tear streaming down his cheek. “When we wake up. I just wanna sleep now,” he whispered, eyes never deviating from the blank wall in front of him.
“Whenever you’re ready. Try and get some sleep, Percy. I love you.” She squeezed his hand and ran her other hand through his hair in the way that she knew helped him sleep.
“Love you too,” Percy mumbled. Annabeth felt his breathing level out and she assumed that he fell asleep. She let out a sigh before surrendering herself back to sleep, letting the tendrils of exhaustion overcome her.
Annabeth should have known that good things only lasted for so long. Things between them seemed to have smoothed over with now only the occasional bump here and there. The band-aids covering wounds actively bleeding out slowly morphed into stitches that gradually staunched the flow of blood. However, sometimes stitches dissolve and need to be redone. When Annabeth picked up the call from Percy she could feel the metaphorical stitches dissolving and the blood flowing once again.
When the call connected and Percy appeared on the screen, she saw less of him and more of his hair. She saw a bottle of Gatorade, DayQuil, and a pile of crumpled tissues on the corner of his desk and his messy mop of black hair. She heard a slight sniffling sound as the audio connected, but couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from. “Percy?” Annabeth’s voice rang through the computer speakers, getting a mumble of a greeting as a response that was quickly joined by him raising his head. “Holy Hera, are you okay?”
“Don’t… talk about her… right now,” he managed to reply before letting out a groan and placing his head in his hands. “You’ll never believe who showed up at my door today.”
“Who? Your dad?” Percy never called during the week unless it was an emergency so Annabeth assumed that the conversation was going to fall into a godly category.
“Please, I would welcome him showing up at this point. And I’m pretty sure he would just let himself in. But, no, it was Apollo. Only it was Apollo in the form of a teenage boy, Lester. And he was under the control of some little girl in the worst outfit I have ever seen. It was not the way I wanted to start my week…” Percy grumbled something incoherent at the end, most likely some choice words for whatever gods may be listening.
Annabeth felt herself perk up at the mention of the god who had been off the grid for the last six months, but as her brain processed Percy’s words her expression quickly changed to one of concern. Out of all the gods to show up on your doorstep after attempting to retire from demigod life, the god of prophecy is the last one you would wish for. With Apollo comes prophecies, and with prophecies come quests-- something they were making a conscious effort to avoid. “Percy…” her voice trailed off, her question not needing to be voiced aloud.
“No, I didn’t get a prophecy. In fact, I almost punched him in the nose and my first words to him were just, ‘why?’” Annabeth saw Percy reach for a tissue and blow his nose before letting out another sigh. “He tried to drag me into some quest to ‘ restore him to his throne ’ as he so touchingly put it. Whatever, he’s Will Solace and any other year round Apollo campers’ problem now.”
“So, you didn’t get involved at all? Then what’s up with the sudden cold?” It was pretty hard to miss the fact that Percy was sick and considering she had just talked to him yesterday it wouldn’t take a genius to notice Percy’s sudden deterioration of health.
“I mean …” Percy’s voice dropped off, replaced by the sounds of him hitting his pen on his desk. “I did give them a ride to Camp but we got ambushed by some plague spirits, therefore the cold. I never made it to Camp with them, they walked as I tried to get my car out of a ditch.” Percy’s eyes switched to something out of frame that Annabeth couldn’t see, refusing to make contact with her. She let out a long sigh, casting her eyes downwards as well.
“Percy, we had a promise. I’m not mad. I just am so tired of us getting dragged into this time and time again. I can’t have you dying on me.” Annabeth attempted to keep her voice gentle, she wasn’t trying to start an argument with him. They talked about this-- better communication and no more jumping to conclusions.
“And you think I’m not?” Percy’s words were harsh and bitter, and Annabeth could sense his frustration. She watched as he hesitated for a second, a look of confusion spreading across his face at the vileness of his tone. Annabeth knew that he had been working on controlling his temper ever since returning from Tartarus and their encounter with Akhlys, but that didn’t stop her from recoiling at his words as shock ran through her veins.
Taking a deep breath, Annabeth steadied herself and thought over what to say. “I know you are. I just sometimes think that you’re too good and that one day that will get you killed. You’re just so loyal, which isn’t a bad thing, but sometimes it makes you forget your boundaries. I just worry is all.” Her words were slow and precise as she made a calculated effort to carefully pick out what words she used. She kept her tone gentle and reassuring, laced with concern and care, but it all seemed to fly completely over Percy’s head.
“Well if you’re so brilliant then go on. Tell me how you would react if a god showed up on your doorstep right now.” Annabeth knew that Percy was just sick and frustrated, using her as a way to get out his frustrations, but it still wasn’t fair. So, she told him exactly that in hopes that he would realize what he was doing and reign it in.
“Percy, you aren’t being fair. I told you that I’m not mad, just worried. I know you had a tough day and I’m sorry, just talk to me.”
“You’re right. I did have a tough day so I’m just gonna go. I’ll talk to you this weekend, Annabeth.” With that, the call ended and her screen went black. She wasn’t completely sure what had just happened so she spent the next few minutes staring at her reflection on the computer screen. The darkness of the screen hid the bags under her eyes, and for a second Annabeth convinced herself that she was well-rested. But as the pain of Percy’s lashing out hit her, so did the fatigue.
Before allowing herself to wallow in the self pity that always came after a fight, Annabeth redirected her attention to the work at hand. She had plenty of homework to complete since Percy had interrupted her studying, but as she pulled out the books she couldn’t bring herself to focus. The letters on the page jumbled together more than usual, moving around rapidly. Her eyes couldn’t focus on the words in front of her no matter how hard she tried, and when she decided to switch to math she was faced with the same problems.
Sixes became nines, twos became fives, the numbers twisting and turning on the page. Annabeth found herself unable to execute basic mathematical functions, so with a groan she shut the math textbook and took out some book in Ancient Greek that always helped her regain her focus.
She had been reading for ten minutes when she heard the familiar beeping noises that signaled an incoming Skype call. Annabeth quickly logged into her computer before hitting the green button to accept the call. “What do you want?” She tried to put her best scowl on her face to mask her concern. She narrowed her eyes in a defensive manner, waiting for the boy on the other end to reply.
“Annabeth, I wanna say sorry. I took out my frustrations with Apollo on you, and you didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry.” Percy took a deep breath and his words caused Annabeth to soften and relax her demeanor.
“Apology accepted, Percy. I’m sorry you had a rough day and I hope tomorrow will be better.” She flashed him a smile, and watched with love as he visibly perked him up. He had told her countless times that she had a naturally calming effect on Percy when he wasn’t in fight or flight mode, and butterflies fluttered in Annabeth’s stomach each time she witnessed him relax because of her .
“I hope so too. Now, why don’t you tell me about your day? If you aren’t busy.” He returned her smile, a little more wary. Annabeth could tell that he wasn’t one hundred percent better, nowhere near there, but she knew that he was working on it. And she knew that he would get there. They would get there.
“Never too busy to talk to you,” she replied with a shrug before proceeding to talk about her day. She told him about her day and watched as he unwound and allowed himself to finally just relax since his run-in with Apollo. Her words seemed to wash over his body and run through his veins with an ataractic effect. At some point, Sally came into his room with cookies, stopping to talk and catch up with her for a couple of minutes before making her exit once more.
Once they both ran out of stories they quizzed each other with practice questions for the DSTOMP and the SAT, and she sent extra compliments Percy’s way on his performance. That didn’t spare her from having to listen to Percy’s complaints on how he was never forgiving Apollo for the poetry analysis and music sections on the DSTOMP, though. Because in his mind, who needs to know this kind of stuff in their world?
The timestamp on their call was at three hours when Annabeth felt a yawn slip through her lips and took that as her sign to say her goodbyes. She hung up the call with a smile on her face, an identical one painted on Percy’s being the last thing she saw before shutting her computer off for the day. As Annabeth crawled into bed that night she saw the stitches slowly began to reform. They were still weak but she knew that they would only strengthen with time.
The first day of April was the day that things fell completely apart. Not between the couple, rather in their interconnected personal lives and the lives of their friends as well. Annabeth was already staying at the Jackson residence for an early Easter when she received the news from Piper. Percy voiced aloud that it had to be some cruel April Fool’s joke, but quickly took it back after observing Piper’s distraught state. The cracks of her voice and the sniffles in between words broke Annabeth’s heart, and she could tell that Piper was incredibly shaken up.
When Annabeth hung up the phone she instantly turned to Percy and held him close. “Th-That could have been you if you agreed to go.” She sobbed into his chest as he cried into her shoulder, mourning the loss of their friend. Neither of them were that close to Jason, but he was still their friend and someone they knew well. He was technically Percy’s cousin as well, and Annabeth knew that the two boys had a slowly forming friendship and ongoing fictitious rivalry. Percy may be acting tough now, but she knew deep down it was hurting the boy a great deal.
They hadn’t asked for details, Piper struggled enough as is to even break the news, but how it happened didn’t matter. What mattered is that the gods took away another innocent life at their expense and probably didn’t even care. They were probably sitting up on Olympus right now, watching Apollo and laughing at his adventures. Would they even honor Jason Grace for the hero he was? After all they put him through since birth it was the least that they could do. But Annabeth had a feeling that wouldn’t happen, and it made her question her allegiance to them.
Annabeth noticed Percy held her a little tighter than night and kept her grip on him equally strong. Annabeth had made a promise once that she was never letting him get away from her again and she was ready to make sure that promise was fulfilled. Jason’s death was not only heartbreaking, but it reminded her of the world they lived in. It showed that no matter who you are or how much you’ve been through and done, when the Fates were done with you then it was game over for you. Their world was cruel and unfair.
Graduation day came sooner than Annabeth anticipated. Her ceremony was a week earlier than Percy’s was so he flew out to Boston with his family to watch the ceremony. As Annabeth crossed the stage to shake hands with the Dean of her school she heard the unmistakable voice of Percy screaming her name from the stadium seats. She turned her head, looking for him and her family in the crowd, and let out a smile as she found them. When the ceremony was over she rushed towards Percy and squealed as spun her around and she threw her cap in the air.
Suddenly, Percy was connecting their lips passionately, placing her back on the ground to dip her back. The couple pulled apart after one of their family member’s cleared their throats, a visible blush spreading across both of their faces. “I’m so proud of you, Annabeth. I knew you could do it.” He handed her a bouquet of flowers with a smile and another kiss, this one short and chaste.
“It’s freeing to be done. I know that I’ve been in and out of the school system, but this is something I always dreamed of as a kid. I’m just glad it happened, and soon we’ll get to start a new chapter of our lives together.” She booped his nose before crinkling her own nose and grinning from ear to ear. It truly was freeing to not worry about school anymore, until college at least, but words couldn’t describe how excited she was for that. Annabeth looked around the stadium and swore that she could see her mother standing in the very back, a smile on her face, but she was gone as quick as she had appeared.
Her graduation party followed the ceremony and consisted mainly of family and a couple of their friends. While the risk of getting attacked by monsters decreased greatly after the defeat of Gaea, there was still the possibility, so she made it a point to invite as many mortals as possible to cover her and Percy’s scents. The party went smoothly and as it wound to a close, she found herself being dragged outside the banquet hall by Percy, a blanket set on the ground. As they sat together and looked at the twinkling stars, their fingers laced together naturally, calloused hands intertwining as one.
She was the first to break the silence. “I can’t help but think of Zoë and Bob whenever I look up at the stars. I know we don’t have to impress them, but after their sacrifices I have to wonder. Do you think that we’re doing things that would make them happy?”
The silence lingered for a minute before Percy replied, “Why wouldn’t we be? We’re saving the world.”
Annabeth let out a sigh, giving Percy’s hand a gentle squeeze. “I don’t know. Sometimes I just wonder if what we’re doing is right. Obviously we’re saving millions of lives, but I don’t know. Do the gods really deserve what we do for them?”
Percy scoffed, causing Annabeth to look at him and stare at his appearance. The moonlight reflected off his skin and dark hair in a way that made him glow, as if the moon and stars ran through his veins. The sight of Percy still managed to take her breath away, even after all of these years. She was still staring when he began his reply, effectively snapping her back to reality. “Absolutely not. Maybe they’ll smite me for admitting that but whatever. They may not deserve it but that doesn’t make our actions wrong.” She nodded, turning to angle her face more directly towards the moon so she could seemingly soak in its glow.
“You know, sometimes I think about what would have happened if I joined the Hunters. Or if you had accepted the opportunity to become a god.”
“I couldn’t do that. Not to my family and not to you .”
“I know and it’s not what the Fates destined. Just something to think about is all.” Percy offered a hum in response, letting comfortable silence fall over them like a blanket. They sat like that, just basking in each other’s presence, until it was time to go. Annabeth pressed a kiss to his lips before pulling back with a smile. “See you soon, Seaweed Brain.”
A week later Annabeth found herself at the Jackson-Blofis residence once again, all of her belongings for the summer in tow. As she walked in the door, Paul informed her that Percy was somewhere around their apartment, because he somehow managed to misplace the tassel for his cap as well as the shirt Sally and Paul insisted he wear.
Annabeth let out a laugh before walking down the hall towards Percy’s room, stopping upon seeing Sally and a baby Estelle. Sally’s face broke out into a smile upon seeing Annabeth and gave her a quick side hug before sending her off to find Percy. “He can use your help, dear. He’s a nervous mess-- not that he’ll ever admit it.” Annabeth chuckled before walking down the hallway to Percy’s room, dragging her bags down the hall.
Without bothering to knock, Annabeth opened the door to Percy’s room and found him sitting on the floor, hair a mess, and attempting to tie his tie. She stood in the doorway and laughed at the sight in front of her because the Percy Jackson looked absolutely ridiculous right now. After a fit of light laughter, she crossed the space and threw her bags in the corner before sitting in front of him. She took the mess of a tie in her and effortlessly created a perfect knot.
Percy gaped at her like a fish out of water before spluttering, “H-how did you do that? I’ve been trying to get this stupid thing for like an hour!”
Annabeth laughed and pressed a kiss to his cheek before getting up and offering a hand. “It’s not that hard, Perce. It’s like weaving if you think about it.” Her words were punctuated with a shrug and a smile. She stood on her tiptoes and ran her hands through his hair, trying to tame the unruly mess. “Do you even brush this?” she huffed out. Percy’s eyes trained on the floor as he let out a sheepish refutation, causing the both of them to laugh. “Well, you look great.”
The five of them set out a couple of hours later to the ceremony and luckily Estelle napped through most of it. She woke up five minutes before Percy crossed the stage, and when his name was called she let out a giggle. Annabeth stood from her seat as the announcer called Percy’s name and yelled out a cheer. Percy turned to look at her as he walked down the steps, sent a wink, then proceeded to almost fall down the stairs. Annabeth let out a laugh before taking her seat once more and offering to hold Estelle for a bit.
The rest of the ceremony was a blur, but when it was over Annabeth ran and jumped into Percy’s arms. She tilted her head to slot her lips with his before pulling away and leaning her forehead against his. “We did it,” she breathed out as she closed her eyes and tightened her hold around his neck.
“I knew that we could.” Percy whispered back before rejoining their lips. Annabeth jumped down from his arms and stepped aside to let him hug his family. She watched with lovey-dovey eyes as Percy held Estelle, gave her kisses, and blew raspberries on her belly.
Percy hadn’t wanted a big graduation party so the family opted to go out to dinner instead. The waiters brought out an ice cream cake after they had finished their entrees, the words ‘Congratulations Percy and Annabeth!’ written in blue icing across the top. The couple joined hands under the table, Percy’s thumb rubbing circles on the back of Annabeth’s.
They left for Camp a couple of weeks later and made their entry hand-in-hand. It was a weird feeling, going to Camp and not having to worry about a new deadly quest. For the first time since before Percy started at Camp Half-Blood, Annabeth got to just enjoy camp life. The atmosphere was passive and calm, but a lingering heaviness was still hanging overhead. The Camp participated in a war of their own alongside Apollo only months prior so the air was still heavy.
Annabeth dragged Percy to greet Chiron and Mr. D before going their separate ways to unpack their belongings. Being at Camp had a calming presence on the both of them, but also had a tendency to ignite memories of all they’d been through. There were so many memories, good and bad, made over the course of their years here that sometimes it was a little overwhelming. It was no secret that since Camp brought all of their history to the front of their minds that their nightmares were at their peak while being here. Since this would be their last summer as campers, there were bittersweet feelings at the prospect of leaving. Annabeth hoped that with a fresh start in New Rome came a fresh start for all aspects of their lives.
Camp began the same way it did every year, except there was also a memorial service held for Jason. Nico did the burial rights although there was no body to be buried, and Annabeth made a mental note to check how he was doing with Jason’s death. Once the burial rights were over, camp life resumed as normal.
Annabeth spent her days the same way she had for many years now, fulfilling her head counselor duties and the occasional spar with Percy. On occasion, Annabeth would go to talk to Mr. D about her nightmares and episodes she had since returning from Tartarus, a recommendation made by Nico upon their arrival. The younger boy had apparently been talking at least once a week with the god ever since he felt Jason’s death and he assured that it actually did a great deal of help. Training kept her mind busy and the adrenaline flowing through her veins, things that temporarily helped stave off the nightmares for when she wasn’t able to talk to Mr. D.
On some nights when the nightmares were really bad, Annabeth would make her way to Percy’s cabin just to be engulfed by his reassuring presence. The summer went by faster than any previous one had, and before she knew it she was saying her final goodbyes and packing her things for New Rome. Annabeth’s father agreed to meet them with her belongings so luckily she only had a couple of bags to bring with her.
Percy still refused to fly no matter how good the relationships were between the Gods, so Annabeth found a way to get them seats on a high-speed, Hermes specialty train to California. For mortals, an Amtrak trip from New York to California would probably take three days, but thanks to Hermes’ help in improving relations between the Greek and Roman demigods, they were able to arrive in only six hours-- the same amount of time a flight would have taken.
Annabeth bounded off the train, Percy’s hand in hers, and grabbed her baggage from the platform before getting on a bus for Oakland Hills. The bus ride was quiet, resulting in enough time for their nerves to build. ‘ They were already accepted to the University. What’s the worst that could happen? ’ Annabeth’s mind tried to reason.
Upon arriving at the entrance to New Rome, Annabeth struggled to make her way around campus with her luggage, but they slowly made their way to the university campus. Annabeth had only been here the one time so she wasn’t confident in her abilities to navigate the grounds of the university, but after some wrong turns and dead ends they finally found their way to the Student Union Building. Hazel and Frank were waiting for them with wide grins, keys dangling from their hands.
“Thank gods you guys are here because I have no idea where I’m supposed to go,” Annabeth sighed as she walked over to the two praetors.
“Hazel and I can show you the way to your dorm building and give you the rundown. You’ll have an orientation like any normal college freshmen since we obviously don’t know much about the university ourselves. How have you guys been?” Frank and Hazel helped them with their bags and led the way towards a simple, rectangular building that looked like any set of college dorms. “This is the boys’ dormitory. You’ll be on the second floor, Percy.” Frank took the set of keys in his hand and unlocked a door in front of him, its plaque reading ‘213.’
The room was still empty, but before Percy could ask where his roommate was Frank turned to look at the son of Poseidon. “You guys are here a bit early since the semester doesn’t start until September, so your roommate probably won’t be here until around then. You’ve got about two and a half weeks to yourself and to just explore. We tried to make sure you guys didn’t get awful roommates.” Frank smiled again before dropping the keys into Percy’s hand. “We should probably go show Annabeth to her room, you guys can unpack later when more of your stuff arrives.”
The four of them exited Percy’s room and left the building, heading towards the opposite side of campus. After two blocks and Percy’s groaning about how far it was, they arrived at a building that looked identical to the one they were just in. This time it was Hazel who spoke, “This is the girl’s dormitory. You’ll be on the second floor as well, and the same principles apply to you with your roommate.” Hazel stopped in front of a door labeled ‘209’ and unlocked the door, allowing them all to go inside. The room was identical to Percy’s, and really just looked like any average dorm room.
“Thank gods I don’t have to share a room with Percy.” Her words were met with a dramatic sigh and demand of, ‘Annabeth, why don’t you love me anymore’ before she swatted his arm. “Hazel and Frank, thank you for helping us get settled in. Without you we probably would’ve found ourselves in the middle of War Games or something.” The praetors let out a laugh as Hazel handed Annabeth her keys.
“Welcome to New Rome, we’re happy to have you here. If you need anything you know where to find us, but no promises we know much about the college. You guys will do great and we’ll have to get together every now and then,” Hazel said before enveloping Annabeth in a hug.
The four said their goodbyes before leaving Annabeth and Percy on their own, in which Annabeth collapsed on her bed. “I could sleep for a week, I’m so exhausted,” she sighed, placing an arm over her eyes.
“Well, why don’t we go get something to eat so we don’t starve then you can sleep?” Annabeth made a noncommittal groan in response, turning to lay on her stomach. “C’mon, let’s go Miss Brainiac. I’m not letting you hole up in this room to rot.”
“Ever the romantic, Perseus ,” she said with an eye roll, giving in to the temptation of food easily. “You never really did get to show me around New Rome, you know.”
“Well, we have plenty of time ahead of us, now.” Percy smiled at her so she gave him one in return, and the pair headed out to dinner together hand-in-hand.
The weeks until the semester began were superb, and things seemed to slowly fall back into place with Percy and Annabeth. They spent their days exploring New Rome, getting ready for classes to begin, or just enjoying each other’s company. They were graced (read: cursed) with a visit from recently restored to godly status Apollo, but it was a rather pleasant exchange. Nobody could complain when the god appeared with a plate of Sally Jackson’s blue chocolate-chip cookies.
It was when classes began that things got rough. With college came self-discovery, and with self-discovery came meeting new people and making new friends. Annabeth and Percy, while taking their core classes together, had vastly different interests and career paths which began to slowly drive them apart.
Percy was on the university’s swim team and trying to discover what major he wanted to pursue. Annabeth remembered he told Apollo all those weeks ago that he was thinking of marine biology or aquaculture but recently he voiced that he was thinking more of a psychology path. Regardless, Annabeth knew that he was taking the time to figure out himself as well as get into the groove of college life, something the workload hadn’t been helping with. She kept true to her word that he would have to do all his own homework, she had enough of her own to worry about.
Annabeth on the other hand seemed to be ten steps ahead of every other freshman at all times. She was dual-enrolled at UC Berkeley as well as New Rome University studying architecture, of course. Her workload was intense, especially for a freshman, but she managed as she always did.
Annabeth and Percy agreed to make sure they ate at least one meal a day together and were technically always within walking distance of each other, but as the days went on their time together seemed to lessen. Annabeth began to feel the struggle of balancing college, friends, and relationships, all at the same time, and with that came a fair amount of disagreements.
It was little things at first. A backhanded comment about the lack of time together here, a joke that fell flat about not even knowing each other anymore there. These little things reopened the wounds they had worked so hard to close last year. Each time a wound reopened the cavern between them widened a little more, until eventually they were separated by a chasm leading straight to Tartarus.
Annabeth remembered Sally suggesting that her and Percy think about talking to someone to help with the PTSD once they arrived in New Rome. At first she thought that maybe she could just keep herself busy and not think about it, but more often she found herself slipping. She would be sitting in class when she was sucked back into a memory, or she would be drinking water in the dining hall when it suddenly burned her throat like the fire of the Phlegethon had. As her stress levels increased, so did the amount of episodes as well as the impact on his life.
The few hours a night that she managed to sleep were often filled with nightmares. She confided in Percy one night over dinner about her rapidly declining mental state, and he told her that he was thinking of going to see someone to help. They spent the night finding resources around campus for who could help before deciding to go schedule appointments the following day.
She was exhausted to say the least, between the episodes, school, and a social life. As things got more intense during the semester, tensions rose between her and Percy even more. The level of snippy comments was dialed to one hundred, the time spent together lessened, and at some point she went a week without even speaking to Percy despite having numerous classes together.
It was a rainy day when they both finally snapped. Percy was walking her back to her dorm after their math class, the two of them standing under a shared umbrella, when he stopped and turned to face her. Annabeth’s building was within ten feet of them, but before she could add another day of silence to her ongoing tally Percy spoke. “We aren’t working anymore,” he said harshly. Annabeth was shocked at the bluntness in his words, but figured there was no need to sugar coat things at this point since in her mind there was basically nothing to ruin anymore.
Annabeth didn’t even turn to look at him as she mumbled her response, “I guess we aren’t.”
“So? What does this mean?” Percy’s wording left a heavier question unspoken, ‘ for us? ’ which Annabeth understood. However, for possibly the first time in Annabeth's life, she was in a situation in which her mother’s wisdom was no help. She had no idea what this meant going forward. The rain picked up as they stood there in silence, raindrops sliding off the umbrella and hitting the ground with loud plop sounds. The raindrops splashed onto her boots and she watched as they slid back towards the ground.
“Can we not do this in the rain? Can we at least go inside?” It didn’t answer his question but it gave her time to think.
“Can you answer my question first?” She saw Percy’s eyes narrow out of her peripheral and felt her fists clenching on instinct.
“Percy, c’mon, it’s cold.” A sigh escaped her lips as she let out the words, the rain around them mimicking the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. A breeze of wind passed through where they were standing, hitting Annabeth’s face coldly. The rain changed direction in accordance with the wind, making its way onto her face and falling down her cheeks like tears.
“Fine,” he gritted out before resuming their walk towards the dorms. As Annabeth opened the door she took in the empty room, meaning they had the room to themselves for the time being. As Annabeth shrugged off her coat and hung it up to dry, she watched as Percy took a seat at her desk. “So?”
Annabeth unlaced her boots and sat on her bed facing the son of Poseidon. “I don’t know, Percy. What do you want this to mean?” The silence was filled by the pattering of rain outside, the storm seemingly increasing as the tension levels rose. As the tension around them grew, so did the pressure and sound of rain hitting her window.
“This isn’t about what I want it to mean. Plus, it isn’t like you seem to care about what I want anymore.” His words were untrue and the implications in his statement caused Annabeth’s eye to twitch. The wind howled outside, picking up in speed as if a hurricane was forming right outside her window.
“You don’t get to act like this, Percy. You haven’t exactly been boyfriend of the year either lately.” Her words were hissed with slipping self-restraint, venom gingerly laced within. Thunder rumbled in the sky as she narrowed her glare at the boy across the room. “I can’t keep doing this anymore, pretending that everything is okay. That we’re okay. Maybe we just weren’t meant to be.” Her heart felt like it had been stabbed as she said the words; she knew they weren’t true.
She watched as Percy blinked at her words, a look of shock painting his face. She said the one thing that they both knew wasn’t true, but at this moment it was all she could say to effectively communicate her feelings. As she stared at Percy and felt her adrenaline rush, she thought of all those times where her mother had said that she did not approve of her friendship with Percy. Maybe she had been right . However, she never could have prepared herself for Percy’s next words. “You really are your mother’s daughter.”
Annabeth’s face took on a look of what she could only assume was horror, her eyes widening as she processed what he had just said. Percy knew that relations between Annabeth and her mother were never exceptional-- neutral at very best-- which caused this to stab her heart not once, but seemingly ten times. Before Annabeth could stop herself, she was offering a reply that she knew would hurt him as well. She felt herself digging up ancient feuds between their parents, weaving it into their own arguments. “Oh, that’s rich coming from you . You’re just a coward, Perseus Jackson.” Lightning instantly struck outside as if Zeus was watching their argument from Olympus with a smile on his face.
Her words were purely spiteful now picked with careful precision. She remembered the last time that she called him a coward, how she had tears streaming down her face and wanted nothing more than to stab a finger at his chest and scream at him. Those same feelings slowly dragged their way up again, rage spreading through her body alongside the adrenaline. Annabeth had faced a lot of monsters in her years, but this argument might be the worst of them all. Before she even gave him a chance to retort back, she spoke again. “I can’t stand to look at you right now. I think it’s best if you leave.” She tugged her sweater tighter around her and stood, but made no effort to move anywhere.
She watched as he stood, wiping his palms on his jeans, before taking a tentative step forward. “What happened to ‘never letting me leave you again’? Wasn’t that your stupid promise?” Percy’s voice wasn’t raised, but it had a razor sharp edge to it. The words bounced off the walls of Annabeth’s dorm, trapped there until Percy opened the door and left. He was there and then he was gone, just like that. Annabeth stood frozen to her spot in the room, tears beginning to brim. She collapsed back on her bed before curling into herself, letting out a choked sob as she did.
She wasn’t sure when her roommate came home or how long it had been since Percy left, but suddenly there was the pressure of another person on her bed. Her roommate, a girl named Gwendolyn, patted her shoulders and tried to coax her into a sitting position. She handed Annabeth a water bottle once she was propped upright, letting her drink before asking for details.
Annabeth didn’t even know how to explain what just happened so she simply told her that she fought with Percy and they were probably broken up now. Gwen tried to reassure her that Percy was a jerk and would be back soon, but Annabeth’s heart hurt at the negative words about Percy. And she had a feeling that this would take a bit more than time to heal.
This was more than an argument that started out of the blue, this was weeks, perhaps months, of bottled up emotions bubbling to the surface and breaking through. Annabeth knew that they were both acting out of line, taking an irrational amount of frustration on each other, but acknowledging the issue didn’t make the pain go away. It didn’t take back the vindictive words they had thrown at each other, and didn’t heal the rift between them.
The moment that Percy had walked out that door, the remaining stitches snapped and the blood flowed freely again. As the blood drained so did her energy, exhaustion kicking in as her adrenaline levels settled. Her brain removed itself from fight-or-flight mode slowly, keeping her from running two blocks and begging Percy for forgiveness. She could see the rift between them now, each standing on opposite ends and seeing who would be the first to fall. There were no magical bridges to weave this time, Annabeth was on her own.
She knew that they would have to work together to close the distance, that was if they even chose to. This distance could last forever if they chose not to patch things up, leaving them both staring down the chasm to the familiar depths of Tartarus.
Annabeth didn’t talk to Percy for two weeks. The tension between them was thick in the few classes that they shared, and Annabeth had to tell Gwen to stop giving Percy death glares as she watched him squirm upon seeing them in the dining hall. Annabeth took the time apart to reevaluate how things had been going for a while, noting that the general consensus was: not well.
She thought that the space would be a breath of fresh air and allow her more time to focus on school, but instead found that she was more distracted than ever. She struggled to stick to the schedule she put in place for herself, was late to classes sometimes, and ate more meals in her room than the dining hall because of her irregular schedule. She felt herself falling ill with a cold at one point, a side effect of her negligence to take care of herself. After the first week, she confided in her psychologist about the breakup. She was more on edge and irritated as if she was running on purely adrenaline and no sleep because, frankly, she was.
Annabeth explained what happened and her recent lack of focus. Her psychologist encouraged her to think about what had set her off the most and why, then think from there if the things they said to each other were true. Annabeth was generally the better of the two when it came to timing, she always found a way to make time for Percy, but she still worked on it as well as the communication aspect.
She knew that they both had messed up big time, and was ready to own up to that. At the end of that second week, she was making her way towards the door of their history classroom when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Annabeth, can we talk? Please?” Percy’s voice echoed behind her, light and audibly nervous. She knew that he committed her schedule to memory, therefore he knew that she was free for a couple of hours now, so Annabeth found it pointless to lie and say she was busy. She turned to face the dark-haired boy in front of her and gave a short nod, following as he led her to a coffee shop off-campus.
Annabeth ordered her coffee and took a seat, Percy situating himself across from her. They sat in silence, sipping their drinks to keep themselves busy and avoiding the inevitable conversation. Their eyes were focused on anything other than each other, and as Annabeth opened her mouth and began to utter an apology, Percy began with his at the same time.
“Let me go first. I asked to talk after all,” Percy mumbled, staring at the lattice pattern of the table. “Listen, Annabeth, I was an idiot and I’m sorry. It’s been so hard adjusting to this new life, but I’m going to work on it. I want to make this work-- that is, if you want to. And it wasn’t right of me to say those things to you, especially not about your mom. So, again, I’m sorry.” He clasped his hands together and placed them on the table, eyes still focused on anything other than the blonde in front of him.
Annabeth took a deep breath and thought over her words for a second. The tension between them was palpable, but as she exhaled it softened slightly. “I’m sorry too, we were both acting impulsively and out of line. I said things that I shouldn’t have as well in the heat of the moment, and I regret that so much. I want to make this work too, because we are meant to be. I was stupid for thinking otherwise, even for a minute.” She raised her grey eyes to look at Percy, watching as visible relief filled him.
“Did you really believe we weren’t meant to be together?”
“No. The second I said that I knew it was a lie and I wanted to take it back.” Annabeth reached across the table to take one of Percy’s hands in her own, giving it a gentle squeeze. “We’re gonna make this work. I was serious when I said you’re not getting away from me ever again.” She offered him a smile that she hoped would convey what she was thinking, ‘ We’re going to be okay .’ Percy offered one back to her, a warm feeling spreading through her chest.
“Gods, these last two weeks without you were awful,” Annabeth laughed, her eyes twinkling. Percy offered her hand a gentle squeeze before reaching forward to flick her nose.
“Tell me about it. My mom had to sit and listen to me cry over you that first day. I’m pretty sure she was ready to fly out to California and lock us in a room together until we worked this out.” They both let out a loud laugh, attracting the attention of the neighboring customers, but at this point they were in their own world.
So they stayed there, sitting in that coffee shop and just talking about anything and everything until it closed and they were kicked out. “Well, how about I make good on that promise to take you around New Rome, Wise Girl?”
Annabeth tilted her head to look up at her boyfriend, a smile blossoming on her face. “I would love nothing more.” She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek before grasping his hand and starting their walk around the city.
“I love you.” It was quiet, meant for Annabeth’s ears only, but she heard.
“I love you too,” she whispered back, pulling his face to hers and locking them together in a kiss.