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Percy has spent most of his life sleeping by himself in bed. He’s shared a bedroom plenty, with his mom in one of their tiny apartments after she managed to leave her husband, in boarding school dorms and then college. Then he graduated and got a shitty job, then a slightly better job, then he had savings in his bank account for the first time in his life and got an apartment of his own.
Then he met Annabeth.
He doesn’t think he can go back to sleeping alone. He still does, a few times a week, because they don’t live together and as much time as they spend at one another’s apartments, sometimes their schedules just don’t work out. But tonight is not one of those nights. It’s a Wednesday and he is sprawled across Annabeth’s mattress, cocooned in her comforter and blankets because the winter chill is clinging stubbornly to the city. He blinks, breathing in through his nose as he wakes up and finds himself alone. The only sounds are the ticking of the clock on Annabeth’s dresser, the patter of rain on the window, and the rustle of sheets as he crawls over to fumble for his phone. The screen is too bright as it lights up with a photo of Annabeth sticking her tongue out at him below the time which reads 3.06am.
He rolls over and stares at the ceiling for a minute or two, wondering when she will be coming back. He lazily checks off some possibilities. She can’t be in the bathroom because there’s no light coming from the hall. She wouldn’t have left the apartment altogether without at least sending him a text. He’s pretty sure a home or alien invasion would have woken him up; he’s a pretty light sleeper beyond the usual New York City noise.
Resolving that he won’t be falling asleep again until he finds her, Percy drags himself out of bed, wincing at the cold and grabbing the sweater he had tossed over the chair in front of Annabeth’s dresser. He pulls it over his head as he shuffles down the hall towards the kitchen, where a faint light is coming from.
It’s the overhead light of the oven, it turns out, and it casts the little room in strange light. He finds Annabeth perched on the counter with her back to him, hunched over the bowl of cereal she is eating from slowly.
Sometimes she can’t sleep. It’s not always for bad reasons, but can be. At times, she is just restless until she has sketched out the idea in her head or written a note on her to do list for the morning. He wakes up to find her squinting at a book held a few inches from her face, using the light from her phone screen so as not to wake him up. Sometimes, though, she is not doing anything but staring at the ceiling as her breathing speeds up. He has learnt - from her - how to help her shake herself out of those moods, how to encourage her to talk about what thoughts have sent her spiralling, how to rationalise against them without making her close up even more.
He doesn’t think this is one of those nights.
The light from the oven casts harsh shadows across her face. Her hair is a crows nest barely held together by her favourite scrunchie and her socked feet bounce against the cupboard as she loosely swings her legs back and forth the way she does when she watches him cook them dinner.
He pushes off the door frame towards her and watches her head turn as she finally notices his presence.
“Oh,” she says around a mouthful of cereal. She swallows. “Hey.”
Percy steps into her space as she puts her almost empty bowl down on the counter and moves her arms around his shoulders instead. Percy hums his response against her neck as he presses himself to her, enjoying the way her legs move around his hips.
“Missed you,” he says.
Annabeth pats his hair. “I’m sorry.”
“Couldn’t sleep?”
She sighs and Percy leans back enough to look at her. Annabeth smiles at the sleepy look on his face and strokes her fingertip down his nose.
“Yeah,” she confirms. “Nothing bad, just…” she shrugs and Percy nods.
She might realise in the morning that it was actually something bad or something she needs to talk about, but he knows her well enough now not to press when she tells him this. If she shuts him out then he’ll push back, but this isn’t one of those times. So he nods and leans into the hand now cupping his cheek and smiles back when she smiles at him.
“I was thinking,” he starts, clearing the sleep from his throat.
“Uh oh,” she teases and he pinches her side for the trouble.
“I was thinking how much I don’t like waking up in bed without you.”
“Is that right?”
“Mhm. It is.”
“I was also thinking about how my lease is up in three months.”
He lets that sit there, hovering in the space between them in an unassuming way. He watches Annabeth bite her lip and lets her avoid his eyes as she looks over his shoulder. The dim light casts her face in an orange glow, darkening the circles under her eyes and washing out her usually rosy complexion.
She looks at him, seriousness sketched into her features. “You want to live with me?”
Not an invitation - yet - but a somewhat disbelieving question.
Percy nods, keeping his expression earnest. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t?” he asks. “Are you secretly a vampire, or something?”
She huffs a little laugh and relaxes a little. “No. But I’m not a very easy person to be with.”
He tilts his head at her. “I disagree. And if your only objection is that you think I’ll stop loving you when we start doing our laundry together and I find out just how much of a slob you are, then I’m gonna start moving my stuff in tomorrow.”
Annabeth purses her lips, trying to quell a smile.
“We’ve got to move my bed in though,” he continues. “Because yours is awful. Your couch is better, so we can keep that.”
“Oh can we now?” she asks, smile unabashed, reaching her eyes and lilting her voice.
Percy nods, squeezing his arms around her as she plays with the collar of his sweater.
“Okay,” she tells him after another moment. “If you’re sure.”
He is nodding before she finishes talking. “I’m very sure of you, Annabeth.”
She presses him close and he feels her dimpled cheek against his own. Her words are whispered right into his ear. “I’m very sure of you too.”
Percy turns his head to kiss the side of her head and grins when she squeezes him closer. He gets an idea then, as the cold presses hard against the bare soles of his feet, and moves his arms around her more securely so that he can lift her up. Annabeth squeaks and grips onto him as he laughs.
“I can walk, you know,” she informs him.
“Mm. It’s freezing in here and you’re warm.”
He lets her turn off the light over the oven before walking them back to her bedroom - soon to be their bedroom.
“Oh, is that all I’m good for?”
“Mhm. I lied earlier. I just want you to come back to bed for your warmth.”
Annabeth smacks his shoulder but follows it with a kiss. He swears he can feel it through his t-shirt and sweater.
“Liar,” she says as they tumble back into bed.
She rolls over him and lets him pull the covers over them. It’s too dark to see her face but he knows she is smiling as she leans in to kiss him, is giddy with how familiar the feeling is. He gets caught up with the thought of waking up in his bed in her - their - apartment every morning. He is pretty sure he has met the love of his life. Doesn’t know what to do with that knowledge some days. So he just kisses her back and holds her tight and hopes he doesn’t have to let go.
What he doesn’t know, is the very question he had asked Annabeth is the one which had been on her mind for a month, what had dragged her out of bed tonight. What he doesn’t see, is the smile behind her kiss which she presses to his palm once he has wrapped his body around hers to fall asleep again.
Because he is the love of her life, too.
She’ll make sure he knows that though.