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"will you be my valentine?"
Percy asks her on a sunny day, while brushing out the end of her curls, next to his desk. She sits on a wooden stool similar to his, highlighting a history textbook as he wraps a pencil through her ringlets.
"...uh?" Annabeth doesn't really think she heard it right, she drops the purple highlighter and turns to him, Percy forgets his own words for a second. The sun is hitting the figure of her hair, making her eyes shine with the light. She's wearing a white long sleeve top and two pigtails out of her natural curls. Annabeth takes his hand off her hair to get his attention, he blinks.
"wait" his voice is just a whisper, Annabeth bites back a laugh, "what?" she asks, already knowing what. Percy weakly smiles, picks up a strand and starts toying with it "I need to ask you something" he says on a more serious note, her eyes slightly widen and her body completely turns to his: Annabeth straightens her back and smiles. Her eyes squint, his throat dries up. "shoot" she says, picking up the highlighter once again, passing it through her hands, Percy sighs, "will you be my valentine?" he feels a foolish rush of electricity go through his body as he says those words again, his face heats up…but he plays it off by wrapping one of her curls on his finger. Percy loses control of his heartbeat, first Annabeth tentatively eyes him, analyzes his features, then she playfully hits him in the shoulder, bringing him back, “what?” she asks again, reluctant to believe him, “why?” Annabeth inquires, Percy keeps toying with the hair, looks down at his hands, then back at her, “...will you?” she cups his face and pecks his lips, then mumbles "sure" Annabeth clarifies, "I mean- I always have been…have I?”
Percy pecks her lips again, “yeah, but I wanted to ask you" he kisses her again, lightly, "...I never did" his tone is low: he doesn't mention the reason why, or the years they spent on quests. Their first valentine’s day he wasn’t there. The next they’d barely made it out of Tartarus. No wonder Percy forgot so many times. He pecks the tip of her nose, she keeps her hands on his neck and presses a kiss to his lips. “I promised Sally we’d finish history by the time she came home” Annabeth reminds him, Percy unconsciously steals a look at the room’s closed door.
“it’s only 4” he retorts, pecking her lips again, she smiles against him while her fingers sneak into his curls, “I want us to make it to college together” she mumbles, “you need to pass history” her words don't sound scolding- but more like a wish, they’re sweet and familiar.
Percy stays silent for a while, letting their eyes linger into each other's for a minute- trying to make the homework fade in the background. Then, brief gasp leaves him “I almost forgot” he says all of a sudden “I got you something”, Annabeth’s lips slightly part in surprise and his heart takes a turn, “you did?” she whispers, her expression makes guilt churn in his head: of course he did, why wouldn't he?- Percy doesn't dare to step away from her, he sticks his hand in the backpack at his feet and pulls out a seashell shaped box, places it on the desk.
Annabeth stares at it, bites the inside of her cheek, “I didn't get you anything” she says, he replies, dumbfounded: “you didn't have to”, she sighs, “I didn't know valentine’s day was a things for us, you know” her hands quickly pick up the little box, then instantly put it back “you can give it to me when I have something too, okay?” she avoids his eyes: how could she forget valentine's day like that? What girlfriend does this?
He places it in her hands once again “I mean this wasn't our thing for a while, you’re right, but it can be” she looks at him, then at their hands, “take it as a starting point” he explains, nudging at the gift- Annabeth sighs again, “you’re-” she looks at it once again, tries to spot every little detail on the shell, “-you’re unbelievable, you know that?”
He smiles wider, “and you’re being so kind to me!” he notes, placing his palm on her forehead to check her temperature, “you sure you’re feeling well..?” Annabeth shrugs it off, “stop it” she tells him, even though she’s smiling, “I treat you well” she states, “...most of the time”
“If you say so” he goes on, she rolls her eyes “one more word and you’ll need another valentine” Percy doesn’t hear the threat, the smell of her conditioner is on his palms, a sweet lemon perfume, distracting him. Annabeth gives him a proper kiss and he tastes the flavour of her cherry chapstick, when she breaks off their foreheads are still touching, her gaze drops back to the box, she passes it through her hands one last time, “if you don’t open it now I’ll cry on the spot and it’ll be all your fault” Percy’s words make her snort a laugh- “ok I’m opening it!” Annabeth picks it up and the bottom half of the seashell clicks open, revealing two small earrings: each of them made out of tiny pieces of pink coral. The sun reflects on them, they shine back at her, Percy nervously sighs at the silence, searches for the love in her eyes and says: “it’s fine if you don’t like them” then quickly adds “I mean- you said you didn’t like flowers that time so-”
Annabeth’s head instantly shoots up to look at him, she clears her throat, trying to find her voice back. “no no no- I love them-” she squeezes his arm with one hand, still holds the earrings with the other, “it’s just that-” Annabeth chews on her lip, “-nothing. I just love you”
It’s not a revelation, but it still catches him off-guard. Percy still tastes the industrial cherry in his mouth, her cheeks began coloring a warm pink. The truth in her confession stays through the air around them. She loves him and he loves her. That was that. In a second Annabeth sets aside the box, then acknowledges his hand in her hair. "It's relaxing when you play with it" she whispers, like it's a secret between the two of them; probably because he's the last one to do so, the last one who ever will.
Percy raises his eyebrows "it's relaxing to play with" he adds, tangling the pencil once again, "pretty, mostly".
She smiles, with her tooth gap showing, and ruffles his curls with her fingers, "yours too" she decides, "...but it’s better if you do it” Percy kisses her lightly, smiling, “so I’m better than you in it” he teases, Annabeth frowns “I didn’t say that”
“whatever” Percy wraps a strand of her hair on his finger, “it's our first valentine's day” he starts, she slowly nods, aware of the fact that at 18 it’s probably their fourth. “...what do you wanna do?” The question is simple though Annabeth finds it intimidating; it’s still weird to have total control on what she can and can’t do, it’s still unusual to have the chance and go celebrate something as stupid as valentine’s day.
She doesn't answer, but leans in and kisses him instead. Their lips taste like the freedom to do whatever. The kiss is of the kind they used to practice and dream of when they were 15 and alone in his room. This same room. The ones Sally used to walk into. Percy’s hands reach for her waist as she wraps her arms more around his neck, when he pulls away, his lips still feel like hers. “we can do that-” he mumbles, “-that’s what I had in mind anyways” his breath catches up, her smile gets even wider, “what does anybody even do on february 14th? she wonders, he looks up, pretending to think about it- “watch a movie, eat chocolate, have sex-” her laugh cuts him off, Percy looks at her, “- but we usually prefer trekking through the underworld” he finishes, proud of himself for making her chuckle, Annabeth doesn’t divert his eyes from his “we’re not having sex here” she solidifies, stealing a glance at the clock, “I’d never recover from your mom walking in” her head hurts at the thought.
Percy looks at the books before them, suddenly remembering why she was here on the first place, Annabeth starts fidgeting with her own hands, “and you always fall asleep during movies” she recalls, “I do not!” his pitch gets higher, “-yours are not movies, they’re documentaries, those are boring” Annabeth ignores him but pecks his lips once again. “So what now..?” she asks, Percy fixes a spot on her shirt and answers simply: “we could just stay here” at those words Annabeth smiles, she picks up his hand and presses a kiss to his knuckles.
Her mind can’t help but think about how just a few years before she couldn’t bear to say “I love you” without feeling embarrassed. Without a voice in her head saying he would somehow leave her one day. Now she feels her skin yearn for his touch. Annabeth needs to feel his warmth on her body. She leans her head on his shoulder, then feels his presence hover her “are you sniffing my curls…?” Percy kisses a spot on her neck before answering “...have been for the past 5 years” he mumbles, the lemon scent sticking onto his skin.
“should I be creeped out..?” she doesn’t bother to lift her head back up, Percy bites back a laugh, “you always sniff my hair” he retors, Annabeth stays quiet for a second “...not always” she says, thinking of all the times he fell asleep on her. He feels the sound of her heartbeat along with his, the shape of her figure against him as if they were being each other's blanket.
She searches for the voice to tell her he’ll leave. But Annabeth hears none. “I’ve already said this” she says slowly, “but I love you” silence “a lot”
Percy kisses her head and hugs her close, his words sound muffled by the fabric of her shirt
“me too”